A few weeks ago, we decided to sign up for the 24 Hours of Seven Springs race. As 100 milers and stage races have become more popular, interest in 24 hour races has waned. Understandable, considering the repeated stopping and starting between laps is terrible.
To make things easier, they have the corporate class. Originally intended for the more-casual rider with a bunch of beer-drinking chums from work, it has turned into a hiding place for semi-pros and experts who also like to drink beer. Instead of doing five laps on a four person team, you can do two or three laps on an eight person team. Less laps, more friends. Win-win.
For long weekend races, I usually pack some wool shirts, shorts and jeans. Rain jacket is a must, along with a vest for cold nights. No more, however. All you need is a pair of "Joe Malones". Cut off jean shorts with the sole purpose of showing what the ladies say is too much thigh, but guys know it's just right. Here is the birth of them at punk bike last year.
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| That bicycle was repelled by coolness. |
For those who didn't have them, Joe's wife brought about five extra pair down to the race.
The course was run in the direction that was most often used in the past (opposite of 2011). The first three miles are tight, fast single track. Do a loose, rocky climb, some more single track, a quick downhill and more single track until you're out in the open around mile seven. They used to take you up the north face of the mountain along a couple switchbacks. This year, you had to ride across several of the slopes on a false flat that was pretty much grass weed-whacked down to the dirt. At the end, it pitches up on a grassy climb then enters into another trail for the final push to the top. After going through the camping area, there's another five or six miles of nice trails, some of which are new, but most pretty familiar.
We started off really well. Jim Mayuric, Joe, Don Powers, TJ, Aaron Shelmire, Ian and Dr. Don all put in a tremendous effort on their laps. All rode very fast and smooth. Except for Dr. Don, we all used single speeds and had zero mechanicals aside from a broken spoke and worn out brake pads.
I was finishing up my first lap just when the rain started, and it got much worse as the evening and night wore on. The trails were peanut buttery on a lot of the climbs, and navigating the rocks and roots required a little more attention. Fortunately, I was nice and dry in my tent during this time.
Diurba showed up around 10:00 at night. He rode his Fargo from Pittsburgh, packed with camping gear. The optimal route is about 55 miles. He took the 80 mile route. He rolled into camp and yelled "Dahn Pahrs!", then let his bike fall to the wet ground similar to how a child drops a toy when they are tired of playing with it. We were all relieved to see him make it through the weather safely. He rode back in the morning in much nicer conditions.
The weather let up in the middle of the night, and the reports were the first half of the course was still in good shape, while the back half was still holding water. I didn't have to go out again until about 5:00AM, so I was hoping I'd catch a little bit of daylight on those last few sections.
I really like night laps. You don't see many people, and it's so peaceful in the middle of the woods. I got to use two new lights - the Piko 3 from Lupine Lights and the Lumina 500 from Nite Rider. Ian gave me the Lumina a couple days before the race, and it replaced my bar-mounted Cygolite. Definitely an awesome gesture, and I'm sure I'll be buying him a few extra lunches over the next couple weeks. Two years ago, I had split a Cygolite in half wrecking into a tree, and I was hoping my new light wouldn't suffer the same fate. Both lights worked extremely well. The Piko has some great settings for choosing lumen output, and it's small enough to fit the light and battery on your helmet. The Lumina has a well-built mount for the bars that doesn't allow it to swivel around, and the internal battery is fast-charging via USB.
My second lap was uneventful. I somehow managed to ride smoother at night in terrible conditions than I did during the day when it was dry. My number goal was to ride smart and get back quick, so I could get outta my wet bibs and back into my Malones. Operation: Success.
With time left for three more laps, we were five minutes behind the first place corporate and overall team. You don't want
to wish a mechanical on anyone, but there was a wee bit of hope that maybe the other team
would have some trouble with all the muck and crap on the trails, allowing us to pick up a couple valuable minutes.
In the end, though, good riding and reliable components allowed them to come out unscathed. We had run the same order from beginning to end, which left us with TJ, Jim, then Joe. They had their fastest riders to throw at ours, and our last lap times compared to theirs were either ahead or behind by a few seconds. All six of them were pretty much buried when they came in. Had we known that Joe was going to pull a 1:13 lap time before he went out, we would have been celebrating at camp, confident that would be enough to make up our deficit. But, John Martin from West Virgina was only a couple seconds less-fast. Unbelievable.
As recent history has shown, the corporate class ruled the overall standings. Dirty Harry's had two corporate teams. The first edged us out by five minutes and the other finished behind us. All good people, and it was great competition all weekend.
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| Too many caption possibilities. |
I should mention our team sponsor for the weekend - Harrison Hills Chiropractic. Thanks, Dr. Don! Go see him, and he'll adjust your spine while wearing random ski goggles if you ask.
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| Crumpled on the floor. |
Now
that that's over with, it's time for Fall night rides, weekend bike
packing trips, and reminding myself what a terrible runner I am.
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| I'd run just as well in denim. |
