My bike is my therapist
Just anything you think is interesting.
So I'll start:
I rode the Burn 24 Hour Challenge the weekend of the 23rd and 24th in a team of five. I had some respectable lap times in the 38-39 minute range on the seven mile trail. We started the day with some necessary decisions like what order to ride in which was easily solved by riding in the order we were standing with the exception of the fastest rider going out first which would get us in the front of the pack giving us less riders to pass on the single track trail. Our pit was near the exit of the woods. After that you rode a path bordered by yellow tape to the start/ finish line. We developed a strategy of signaling the next rider in the lineup on exiting the woods which would give him time to get to the start/ finish for the hand off. Instead of saying "NEXT" or "GO" which was heard constantly we decided on the word "SPOON". Unique enough not to be confused. I think if I yelled "SPOON" to one of them today they would jump out of their chair.
Start time was at noon Sat and the race ended noon Sun. If the last rider went out before noon Sun the lap counted as long as he was back before 1. That wouldn't be a problem as we were doing 40-50 min laps by then. So we went through the rotation twice doing one lap each before night fall. Through the night we would do two laps each giving the others a longer break in the rotation to get sleep. At 7pm they required the riders to have lights. Riding the trail at night with 700 lumens strapped to your helmet is such an awesome experience. The shadows move in weird directions. On the fast bits its a rush to weave down the trail standing on the pedals having the trees and bushes whiz by in your peripheral in the dark while the trail in front of you is flooded with light. Everyone is a little slower on the trail at night which is understandable. At around 3:30 in the morning the rider before me was about half way through his second lap when it started to drizzle. Not enough to get the trail wet and muddy but enough to make the roots and rocks on the trail death defying slippery. Oh great. Soon I hear the war cry "SPOON" and I jump on my bike and make my way to the start for the hand off. The day laps were mostly uneventful apart from pushing the edge a bit and getting the adrenalin rush after the recovery. My first night lap was like tip toeing. You try to pull on the bars and "unweight" the front wheel at the moment you hit a slick root or rock to minimize the chances it will skip off said obstacle in a random direction and you find yourself splayed out on the ground. The rear wheel is a completely different story. Theory has it that it should follow you. And for the most part it does. But the occasional big kick left or right really gets your attention. I manage to stay on two wheels during my two laps and as we finished the rotation it started to get light out and we went back to single laps. The drizzle turns to a very light rain for a few moments but the trail never did get muddy which I was thankful for.
At one point I was waiting for my predecessor to exit the trail with my bike leaning against one of the awning poles and within 10-15 minutes of expecting him I notice my rear tire is FLAT! I flip the bike over and yank the wheel off while one of the others rip a new tube out of the box. I get the tube exchanged and the wheel back on the bike pronto and everyone sits back down. That was the only mechanical problem we had the entire time. Mind we all riding single speed bikes so there are less bits to go wrong with. I dropped the chain twice but that's just feed it back on the cog, give the crank a quick spin, and in a few seconds you're off again. I adjusted some of the slack out later. We're going through the second rotation on Sun and trying to calculate who would get the last lap and yours truly looked like the likely candidate. As the rider before cried "SPOON", I checked the time and had about 45 minutes to get to the handoff and do my lap in the hopes we could get one more rider out before the cutoff. I hit the trail hard, roots and rocks be damned. I would reconsider this decision a couple of times during the lap. As I yelled the obligatory "SPOON" coming out of the woods the next rider was already at the handoff. I passed the clock with four minutes to spare and the he was off. In the end we completed 31 laps with our team finishing 14 out of 40 teams which was better than the midpack finish we had hoped for. It's ashamed they didn't have an all single speed team category. I think we were the only one.
Here is the GPS data on Motion Based: 9th Annual Burn 24 Hour Challenge
Lap one and two are the day laps on Sat.
I didn't take the GPS out for the two night laps. I was afraid if I hit something and it popped off the bike it would take too long to find it, if I found it.
Laps three, four, and five are the Sun laps. Laps four and five are one lap the GPS decided split for some reason.
Each of the lap times include about a minute of riding to/from our pit.
The trail stayed wet all day Sun and the "black ice death roots" would reach out and grab you if you let your guard down.
jules2
Croydon, great reading, I've always fancied doing a 24 hour.
Had a odd week
Sunday 40 quick miles cycling with the local tri club then a 5 mile run, it was hot.
ran Tuesday and Wednesday,
10 mile time trial Thursday plus about 16 there and back,
Friday / Saturday helping lay a MTB course out in some local hiils,
Saturday night the stag party from hell, I'm still tryng to work out what happened but one of the highlights was the groom kissing a Canadian Dwarf.
As punishment for my failure to get home Saturday night ( I slept on the grooms floor ) I was taken out hillwalking today, I felt rough, it was hot and it felt like a renactment of the Bataan March.
When I've recovered I will post a more detailed account!
Old age is when you move from illegal to prescribed drugs.
Saturday night the stag party from hell, I'm still tryng to work out what happened but one of the highlights was the groom kissing a Canadian Dwarf. As punishment for my failure to get home Saturday night ( I slept on the grooms floor ) I was taken out hillwalking today, I felt rough, it was hot and it felt like a renactment of the Bataan March.
mmmm... sounds like a weird dream
There's more!!
Croyden - that was some exciting reading! Congrats, and that elevation graph is scary, and riding at night too
I think I'll just keep to myself what I think of when I hear spoon - but then I'm not a biker
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away...(unkown) • Go With The Flow • Thyroid Support Group
There's about 6 seconds of me at the 3:30 mark. Right after the guy tried to take out the tree with his forearm
Burn 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race
And one photo.
Ryan Sigsbey Photography
No, I'm not sticking my tongue out. Weird camera angle I guess
...No wonder you're hooked on trails.
edit: updated the Renaissance link to show the trail map
Croydon,
Great report, I'm still up to my neck in work and don't have time to post much at the moment
54 miles at Fisher Farm Trail
The trail was modified to 8 miles.
A 6 miles road section and 6 laps on the trail
Finished 4th in Single Speed Class
Let me get this right you do that for enjoyment?
Well done, I like it when it gets tough as I can usually manage to keep going one way or another.
Ran a 40:47 10k last Sunday which is a lifetime PB so I now really must improve my 10 mile TT time this year.
Just managing to keep my nose ahead of the 1000 mile running pace bunny ( I was hoping for 1500 this year ) but I now have a new physio and I'm optimistic that I can soon start cranking the miles up.
130 starters and 41 finishers??????
Croyden - you are an animal!
Congrats on a really tough race - how are you feeling now?
Don't you think it's time for a recovery run
Jules - congrats on your lifetimeĀ PB! WoW!
Glad to hear your new physio is working out for you.
jules, you know "enjoyment" is a relative term.
Finding a pace that would last was difficult in those conditions.
Congrats and good job on your PB.
Chenille, I spent Sat evening in a chair. and Sun drinking the county water supply dry.
It was a good learning experience.
I've entered this event as a runner with n option to bike it if my leg is playing up as happened last year but its a bit tame compared to your events.
http://www.nineedges.co.uk/