Summer Solstice 24 Hour MTB Relay Race Review

Well the magic time was here...one of the races we look forward to through the frigid winter and wet spring; to a mountain biker this race is like Christmas to a 6 yr old...Chico Racings Summer Solstice 24 Hour MTB Relay Race (cue dramatic music)...

Anyways, the race started Saturday June 21st at noon, and ran till noon on Sunday June 22nd; so I headed up on Friday with NewfieSteve, EnglishJim, and Giant.  NewfieSteve and EnglishJim were racing on a 5 man team along with PowerPaul, Jamie, and TractorPaul (yeah I know, too many Pauls...the world is full of them...).  Giant was soloing...yes that means he was doing the race alone...24 hours on his bike...alone; I have to admit...I did not expect things to go well for him (he has a habit of multiple flats and mechanicals in short 1 hour races...).

This was Jim's team and Giant enjoying recovery bevs post race...

BicycleWorks is my Local Bike Shop so I wear their jersey, but I was racing tag team (two people) with Fig as my partner.  Fig races for the Rock and Road Cycle Race Team so we were sharing a pit with them.

The pit...

The inside of the pit...

Also racing for Rock and Road was CptSydor, misconceptionz, VVagabond, and Blaze, racing as a 4 person no-nights team (yeah no-nights...who does a 24 hr race but doesn't do nights???...well, maybe me next year...)

 misconceptionz...

Blaze....

Blaze complains that he doesn't get enough face time on this blog....that's because this is usually the only sight of him I have...

Finally, also sharing the pit, and racing for Rock and Road was Duke.  Duke was racing Solo in the age 50+ category...this was Dukes 10th straight year in soloing this race...and is determined to keep doing so until he wins it one year.

Anyways, Friday is spent setting up the pit and camp, then pre-riding the race course with CptSydor and VVagabond.  I commented on how fast and easy the course seemed to be...VV replied that all of those little hills could add up...truer words were never spoken.  Then it was time for relaxing and getting ready to race on Saturday.  On Saturday morning, nutrition gets set up, and final checks on the bike...


The bike...we were team 62...

The team mascot GeeGnome was out to watch the race...

And even did a lap in VV's pocket!

Then it's race time!!  Fig takes our first lap...and comes through to our pit 55min27sec later...I grab the chip/baton and go on my first lap.  I wound my way through the race course and the early race traffic to roll into the pit in 54min19sec, then Fig ripped off our fastest lap of the race in 53min07sec!!  Nice one!  In fact we were in first place!  Our lap times stayed under 1hour until about 10pm...then it got cold...frigid even!  To come into the pit hot and sweaty, within minutes it was freezing cold...so the challenge was to stay warm and dry into the next lap.  Then we slowed down...and slipped into second place around midnight.  We were slowing down...laps of 1hr10mins...and slipped into third (there were 14 tag teams we were competing with in this race).

Time for an interjection (look it up...).  I have to say that this was one of the funnest courses Chico has had in the summer solstice race.  It had fun flowy downhills.  It had just enough technical to keep newbies safe, but keep experienced riders interested with some drops, roots, and rocks (with safe arounds)....and VVagabond was right...the hills did add up.  Especially, the long drawn out false flat climb past the two way bridge by the solo pit area, that ended with the sharp, steep, loose switchback climb that left you gassed with 5km to go.  Every time I approached this spot after my 5th lap my heart filled with dread, disease, and seepage.  I likely looked like this each time...

Anyways by late night/early morning the fatigue and pain really started to set in.  The tired legs and shoulders...the cramping back, and the general fatigue...seriously...fighting to stay awake both on the trail and in the pit.  A couple of times taking a quick 15 minute nap in the pit, with a member of Rock and Road there to wake me up and get me going.  In fact, the Rock and Road team took great care of us; making sure my chain was clean and lubed between laps, letting me eat/rest/change clothes as needed...giving me the best chance to combat the fatigue and pain.  Makes me really wonder how the solo riders do it...they are animals...although I wonder if the hour rest on a tag team is more foe than friend.

Then on one of my early morning night laps (2am or 3am-ish), fatigue and the dancing shadows of the lights had me take the wrong line through one of the rock gardens and over I went into the rocks.  A quick check made sure I was uninjured (ish), and the bike appeared OK....whoops, chain is off...so throw the chain back on the rings and go.  No wait...the right shifter/brake is twisted upside down...and not budging...meaning I was without a rear brake and rear shifting.  This left me with two usable gears (the two front rings), which was fine; but left me without a rear brake.  There were numerous steep, descending switchbacks which became rather tricky with just a front brake.  Then I passed a solo rider in some double track, and we made our way into some singletrack with him near behind me.  A rider came up behind him and called a pass, but the solo ride said it wasn't a safe place to pass (it wasn't), but apparently the rider passed anyways and the solo swore at him....then he went to pass me without calling it, on one of the aforementioned descending switchbacks, forcing me off the trail and again over the bars.  The solo made sure I was OK, and muttered something about jerks with no class and too bad we didn't catch his number plate...then continued on.  I gathered my bike, and again had to restore the chain...then carried on.  Once in the pit Blaze grabbed my bike and proceeded to straighten out the shifter/brake.  Thank you Blaze!!  It was our slowest lap...two dumps on one lap...and we were still in third place.

Actually it wasn't funny....but misconceptionz loves the cat pics...

Anyways as the sun started to rise, and it began to warm up, our pace picked up.  Every lap got a little bit faster.  Then on one night lap, a rider came up behind me and called..."Miiichealll"...I knew that voice; it was Oggie.  Oggie is well known in the MTB community, as one of the fastest and toughest riders around...and he is in my age category....which makes him a great target for me to shoot for...someday.  I answered, "Ooooggie...you're going too fast...", and as he laughed in response he must have slipped up over a root/rock obstacle, as I heard an unclip and a thump.  So I added, "I tooold you..."; again he laughed and I found a safe place to squeeze over so he could pass...and he proceeded to leave me in the dust.  (Oggie's team went on to take a commanding win in the 5 person team age 250+ category with 28 laps).

Oggie...see he even looks tough...

Anyways, I rolled into the pit after our 22nd lap at just after 11:30am...giving Fig enough time to get one last lap in.  As Fig rolled away, Blaze was looking at the results and determined that we were just one minute out of second place; so CptSydor raced off to let Fig know so that he could attempt to make up the time, and Fig ripped off a great time!!  Trouble was...Blaze misread the results...we were one entire lap and 11minutes out of second place!!  Oh well, we were on the podium, solidly in third spot!!  (in fact we each could have skipped our final laps and still taken third).

I have to give special kudos to Fig.  He has a history/reputation of being a delicate flower...often bonking, or getting headaches, or gluten sensitive, sunburned, cold, or some kind of owie (he recently got beat up by a 12 yr old girl with the comic section of the newspaper as a weapon).  This is Fig on one of our recent rides...

However, he toughed it out on this race more than I could hope for.  He was always ready to go (no Bonnie to distract him), and he was consistently faster than me throughout the race.  I am lucky to have him as a partner (I know how to pick 'em!!).  In fact....I think Chuck Norris wishes he was Fig...

OK....maybe more like this??

Anyways yes we ended up third...here is proof!

And how about the Rock and Road Cycle 4 Person No Nights Race team??

They came in second!!

And Duke??  He fought between 1st and 3rd throughout the race...but ended up 1st in the Solo age 50+ Category.  10 years of trying...and he did it this year.  Congrats to the nicest guy in Mountain Biking!!

So, big guy, can now quit and race on a team next year...take it easy for a change!!
So...everyone in our pit ended up on the podium...wow!!

This was the pit crew...

But, perhaps the biggest surprise was Giant!!  He did flat (no surprise there)...first lap...but went on to take second place in the solo age 40-49 catagory!!  In his first attempt at solo in a 24 hour race, with 18 laps.  The man is a robot....or at least Anunnaki!!

EnglishJims team came in 8th in the 5 Person age 200-249 category.  But his team was kind enough to take this pic of him post race...

Sorry Jim...Steve insisted.  At least you are somewhat fully clothed in this one...

And how did I feel after the race??

Well this is how Lois thought I looked...

This is how I thought I looked...

But this was it...

Still hurtin today...two days later...Hopefully get back on the bike and back into training tomorrow...

Will that be the case??  Stay posted!!