Mazda Protege5 loaded up with two
Cannondale Rush 2000s and ready to go
Left Waterloo around 9:15 am on Saturday for the drive to Branched Oak Park which is just NE of Lincoln, NE. Arrived at the park, took a while to figure out where things were but then we started getting things in order. Second endurance race of the year although this one was a night race. Started at 6pm on Saturday and ended at 6am on Sunday. It was pretty warm, around 90 degrees, sunny and very windy with 30-40 mph gusts. Setting up two pit area goes pretty quick whem you have five people there.
Jeff and his parents as well as my wife and me were able to get things in order and then Jeff and I got dressed for the 12 hours of fun without the sun, or so I thought.
I never did pre-ride the course which usually isn't a huge deal in an endurance race since you have 12 hours of riding it and it will not be won in the first lap. The course is very twisty, dry, some good susstained climbs followed by some pretyy fast downhills. There are very few straightaways on this course which definately added to the fun. Took off on the bikes after the LeMans start, rode through about 1/2 a mile of rough grass and was in third place going into the singletrack. Jeff was setting a pretty quick XC pace and the field was instantly destroyed. About two miles in there were two small groups that I could see. Jeff and one other rider about 50yds ahead of myself and two others. The two behind me got around me in a nice sandy corner were I lost the front wheel but didn't go down, just stopped in my tracks. Got going trying to get back on their wheels when I heard one of them yell "Take a Right!". I then see Jeff coming at me from an area where he and the other rider made a wrong turn due to the marking tape being torn down by a group of "camper kids" as I call them. I moved over to let Jeff by and then rode with the other guy that was with him for the rest of the lap. On the fourth lap, Rush #1 decided to develop a bit of a shifting problem, cable stretch, and so I switched over to Rush #2 which worked flawlessly. On lap five I started to feel over-heated and my pace was quickly dropping off. It was over 10mph for the first four laps and at the end of #5 it was 9.6mph. I figured that I could load up on some fluids to get over it so I took in some Gatorade, replenished my water, grabbed the Cateye Double Shot that was loaned to me by the Deerslayer, and took off for lap #6. The course always looks a bit different when the sun goes down but it is still the same course. It didn't matter though because my body was screaming at me physically and mentally. I pulled into the pit area with a 45 minute lap time (10-15 minutes slower than each of the previous five) and I sat on the ground waiting to vomit. Amy and Jeff's parents asked me a few questions and gave some good advice and I decided to pull out. I parked the bike, took a shower, ate some food and then took a 30 minute nap until I heard Jeff's voice and woke up.
I talked with him during his pits for the next couple of hours to see how things were going and help out if needed. During his pit at around 1:30 he stated that the race director said he was the only solo rider on course and the last one to check in was around 11pm which was only about an hour after my last lap. I felt like I was letting a lot of people down by bailing and Jeff's comment about being the only one on course got me thinking. Amy and Linda made a few subtle comments of encouragement and so I got dressed and headed out with renewed inspiration and entusiasm. My first six laps were completed in four hours and I had 3.5 hours to get in as many as possible. II felt great and everythign was ticking over perfect. Flawless riding like the kind you have when you are out for an afternoon ride with your friends. Tearing through corners at high speed, out of the saddle hammering the pedals for the climbs, and big ringing the nasty rough grassy sections at the beginning and end of each lap. Everything was finally flowing the way a racer always hopes it will and I was able to get in six more laps in 3 hours and 15 minutes. The pit stops were 15-60 seconds depending on what I needed. 15 seconds for water and food, 60 second stop for a quick squirt of lube on the chain and front hub bolt. I inquired with the lap counters at about 4am for placing and was told that I had caught up with two other guys and we were all tied for third. Talk about motivation! I think that I passed like 6 or 7 other racers that lap and again on the next lap. Lap times for the "second set" were between 28 and 35 minutes with three of them being 28 minutes. I finished at 5:50am with 12 total laps and I still felt pretty good. I also felt as though I had accomplished something instead of letting people down. 12 laps was good enough for third place overall which really made me happy. Wow, another podium finish and two
Cannondales on the podium to boot, the only Cannondales in the race, again.
Jeff won by a land slide as usual with 21 laps.
Finishing up a lap in the dark with Rush #2 reflecting the flash
Thanks to Amy for running the pit area, to Amy and Linda for getting me going again, and to all of the people that helped to put on the race. Also be sure to check out
Jeff's blog for all of the cool pictures that his dad took. A big thanks also goes out to Rob "Deerslayer" Houlihan for allowing me to borrow his new Cateye Doubleshout headlight. I love this light! All things considered, I still had a great time.
Here is a picture of me finishing up my last lap as taken by Jeff Kerkove. Man was I flying. :)
A big WTF here. I thought that Pringles were in a tube so that they don't end up in little pieces.
The guys that put this race on were a hoot. Here they are all dressed up in space blankets for the evening. Yes the one guy is even wearing a space blanket diaper.