Bookend to a Great Season
Coming into the 2011 I had my goals set high. I was racing a full season as a Pro and was looking for some top ten finishes in some big races throughout the year. I was using this year as a building block and stepping stone to elevate my competition level for the years to come.
The season started out great with a win at 24 Hours of Old Pueblo on a 5 person Coed team and then a top ten at Voodoo Fire in Pueblo, CO. After some good training time, I earned some more great finishes at the Bailey Hundo, Firecracker 50, Breck 100, Steamboat Stinger and Laramie Enduro. This was a big block of racing and I managed to find out a lot about what works best for me in my racing and training and it showed in the results.
In August I had decided to back down a little on the racing and set some time aside for some fun riding and just enjoying summer, but I had also schemed up the idea of racing in two National Championships in 2 weeks in Sept.
The first stop of National Championships was in Bend for the Marathon National Championships. My good buddy Dax Massey and I had come up with the idea to drive to Interbike and spend a couple days at the show and then drive to Bend and see how we faired in the race.
Driving that many hours, having a little Vegas time and driving some more was probably not the best thing for the legs or body. The body just didn’t respond well and my back and hip was killing me the whole race. I can’t say it was a loss though as I managed 27th out of 41 finishers. Not great, but not as bad as I felt and in retrospect I would probably not have done it any other way. The show was well worth the stop and then Bend was a great experience!
With the first National Championship under the belt it was time to concentrate on the 24 Hour National Championships. Dax and I had assembled a very worthy 35+ four-man team of solid racers consisting of, myself, Dax Massey, Thane Wright and Jeff Zurakowski.
We were all pumped at racing for a National Championships and we had some great support with KOA Dave heading up the support as Director Sportif. This guy is amazing! Not only did he bring a 30 foot RV, but full on dining tent, tables, chairs, industrial cook station and more. Thanks Dave!
We also had a full entourage of support crew, Nate Bird was lead mechanic, Jeff Gleaton (Dax’s Cousin) helped with charging and lights and then we had a crew of ladies (so many I could not count) that were the best. From the “Go Hard” sign (use your imagination) to the cheering entourage on every lap transition, we had the competition jealous to say the least. Thanks to the “Entourage” you all are the best!
When the racing started we were all a little bit unsure of the course. We had tried to pre ride the night before, but the course markings were not all up. I usually would not point thumbs, but the last two USA Cycling events I had raced in, had serious organization problems. Come on, we are talking National Championships!
We had decided Dax was going race first and then I would go out second. I knew Dax would throw down a fast first lap and I made my way to the timing tent at fifty minutes. The first racers came in around fifty-five minutes and I was anxiously waiting to get out on my lap. A few minutes ticked by and I started to get the feeling something bad happened out there. A few more minutes ticked by and now I was getting worried that our National Championship hopes were in jeopardy. Then relief came over me as I saw Dax speeding toward the timing tent, at a little over an hour.
Getting out on your first lap of a 24 Hour event is I always a relief; there is a lot of energy and anxiety ready to be released and if you didn’t dial in the course on the pre-ride you might have to wing it. In this case we had missed a section in the pre-ride and as I turned into an unknown section I was geared wrong for a steep uphill and had to jump off and shift into a more reasonable gear. This was a slight waste of time and momentum and really spikes the heart rate and I found myself struggling to recover as the lap wore on. This course had lots of twists and turns with short little climbs right around each corner. I remember thinking that is was a great course to break a chain, a thought that would come back to haunt us in the next lap.
Between laps at a 24 Hour event you get back to camp, change out of your chamois, clean your bike up, eat a little and think of how your teammate is doing out there. Once you get through your team’s first laps everything seems to calm down and you just get down to business. However, in this situation, already being down four minutes on the first lap from a mechanical made waiting for next lap a little unnerving.
Everyone was feeling pressure and hoping our National Championships was still in play and we all made our way to the timing tent to see Jeff off and Thane come in. As we waited we all started to get a little uneasy as the time was well past and hour and then five. Just as we were getting a little worried, there was Thane. After handing off to Jeff, Thane immediately looked disappointed, and soon explained that he had broke a chain. The lost time wasn’t so bad and we were all happy because it could have been worse, but we were only fourteen minutes down and still in the hunt.
Jeff is always super-consistent and I had a feeling we were through the tough part and now it was time to get to business putting down safe fast laps. Jeff as expected rode a fast and safe lap and sent Dax out for his second lap that ate four or so minutes into the lead, then I went out for my lap knowing the course a little better and put down a fifty-eight minute lap, which also took four or so minutes out of the lead. Thane got redemption and put a solid lap in that took another minute out of the lead and now we rolling as night approached.
Night riding can intimidate some people, but for me I feel as though I tend to get more focused on the course in front of me and find the good lines. Of course it doesn’t hurt when you are running best lights in the business, two Light and Motion Seca 1400’s. We were racing for Light and Motion and showing off their lights as we blazed through the night scaring people with all the light the Seca 1400’s were putting out.
As the time came for my second night lap I found myself with a four-minute deficit on the leaders and I went out to catch my competition. My second night lap is usually my favorite as the course’s lines are getting obvious and your memory of the course is fresh. As I came up a rise there was my competition, he had just pulled over and was working on fixing a flat. Now I was pumped, not only had I brought back the four minute lead, now I had a chance to put some serious time into our competition and I drilled it to the finish and ended up with a fourteen-minute lead.
Now with a solid lead we just needed to ride consistent and safe and as we came out of the night we were up a solid twenty minutes. Thanks to our Director Sportif, KOA Dave’s instructions, we “kept the ball on the ground” and rode safe consistent laps to capture the 35+ 4 Man 24 Hour National Championships. This was a first for all of us except Dax and I can’t tell you how pumped we all were. After having two devastating laps in the early going we pulled it together and reeled our competition back in and then took a commanding lead. That’s a great feeling and this was a great team victory. Thanks Dax Massey, Thane Wright and Jeff Zurakowski, we killed it out there!
After such a great victory it feels great to leave this as my last race of the 2011 season. What a better way to cap off a surprising and successful season. I really could not have done it without my sponsors for 2011. Thanks Santa Cruz Bikes, Light and Motion, Kep’s Pollen Balls, Honey Stinger, Stan’s NoTubes, Formula Brakes, Infinit Nutrition and Schwalbe Tires!!!
