|   24-hours of McDowell: Race Report from a "Freedom" racer | Agnes Drogi
Apr 19, 2003 12:16 AM | | It all started pretty well when I showed up at the McDowell State Park Friday night to pick-up my race package: they had some pop-corn ready for me! That was a really good start. The kind of little details one would expect after paying $300 entry fee to race (suffer?) for 24 hours. I thought it was a nice touch!
I came to this event prepared, but not fully prepared like I was for the Old Pueblo 24-hour that I did in February as a duo team with my friend Scott (Nowicki). I hadn't counted how many calories of food I had along and how many I would need to eat during each lap, given the elevation gain of the course (80 calories to just carry one's average weight say 170lbs- 1,000 feet up), the outside temperature (About 100 Calories per hour just to keep your body warm when it's freezing outside), the number of rocks on the trail and the % of body liquid sweated out under 85 degrees Fahrenheit. I hadn't tried the Night Rider H.I.D. light my friend Brian had loaned me. An hour before the race, I was subject to a panic attack trying to fit it on my handlebar already crowded with the heart rate monitor, the other H.I.D. light mount because mine is a Light in Motion and of course it's a different type of mount, the race plate, the remote control for the Rock Shock S.I.D. fork, the frog bell, the mirror, the compass and my new weapon the "laser" specially designed to pulverize any rocks into dust and smooth the trail turned out that the weapon didn't work at all..
I was motivated, but not fully motivated: the Monday before the race, I woke up feeling sick, and sure enough, by the end of the day, my nose was running, my sinus burning and my head hurting from a bad headache. Maybe I shouldn't have ridden Porcupine Trail followed by Poison Spider Trail (Moab) as a last long training riding before the race (60 miles on my hardtail from downtown Moab to downtown Moab), followed by another 60 mile ride the following day (Sunday) thru Arches National Park and along the Colorado river. That had weakened my system and the germs were attacking in mass. So I armed myself with Echinacea, vitamin C, Occilococinum and by Friday morning, I was feeling somewhat OK, nose still sounding a little bite plugged, but OK. I for sure wasn't looking forward for a 24-hour race. But again, when you already paid $300 to enter the race and you're being told you won't get a refund if you don't race, even if it's because you're sick, that's quite some incentive to at least start and see how it feels!
So I'll give it a try!
LeMans start. that was my first one and I assumed not rushing at the start since I had 24 hours to go. I looked around for who were the female competitors and two were next to me: Barbara and Terri. I swear I saw them taking off ahead of me and I had to remind myself: no rush. 1st lap and my sinus is burning, not a good sign. I didn't pass any girls, so I thought I was in 3rd position. But to my surprise, when I rounded the parking lot, people are yelling to me "Go girl, you're the 1st girl to come by". No way! Yes way, you are, and soon enough the speakers were saying my name with plenty of encouragement words. That makes you feel good! OK, one lap. and it's not quite 1:00 PM. So it's one lap per hour, plus a little bite of slowing down when getting tired, plus a 5 minutes a lap to swallow some energy food, plus a longer break every so often. let see, I should be able to go for 20 laps like this guy was talking about on the starting line. I hadn't pre-ridden, so I wasn't sure what to expect for an average lap time, despite having raced on these trails many times (but not in the "sport to tech' to long loop" order. usually, one wants to do the whole sport and tech' laps cause they are so much fun!).
One lap out of 20 then. better get the mental ready for it or it's gonna be hell! Let's count down to 10 first and see how it feels.
2nd, 3rd laps, I'm feeling good. I was going too fast on the first 3 laps and my HR was way high. Girl, you need to slow down or else you're gonna bonk hard. How far is #2? OK, I can slow down. The "Cow Bell" guy from Nebraska is catching me, or I'm catching him, and we stick together for a couple laps. He's on a single speed, crazy. I thought that's why God gave us gears. A couple laps were enough: his bell is driving me nuts! How can he handle it?? 4th lap, 5th lap, hey I'm half way to 10. Leaving the parking lot with a smile on my face. My Titus hard tail feels so great, I love it! It's so zippy, climbs so well. But I wonder why my back and my shoulders are hurting more than usual on a 5-hour ride. About ¾ of a mile off, where the trail makes a sharp turn after a bunch of woopy-doo/ wash board and starts steeply climbing (somehow.), I switch to the small ring (a sign that I'm getting tired?).. "sheet, the chain fell off". "sheet again, the chain broke", now what do I do. I knew I should have replaced it before the 24-hour race. Stupida come una galina. I broke my rear derailleur the weekend before, tried to convert my bike into a single speed, but it didn't work as well as in the books and I had to open the chain while under tension a couple times. In other words, the chain was tossed and I didn't bother replacing it. Can't trust girls with mechanics, hey? Oh well. I could use the chain tool on my trusty pocket tool, but I know the chain is weak at, at least, 3 or 4 other points. So what? "Run Forest, run" and you'd better not blow up your lungs doing it. Better be lucky than smart, I wasn't that far from the parking lot and it was mostly downhill. The funny thing is that as I was going out, I passed a guy who was pushing his bike going the wrong way and I made a smart-ass comment like "hey, you're going the wrong way" (like he doesn't know it.). Now it's my turn. And as I pass him running I feel so stupid!
Finally the parking lot. Good thing they staged the solo riders at the top, less to run for me. I jumped on my other bike (Titus racer-X), briefed Don on what's going on, where the replacement chain and cassette are (yes, I even had the parts in my tool box and could/should have replace them way earlier!). Hey, you have about an hour to get it fixed! I'll be right back! The pit crew mentioned that the rider was "upTitus" when the chain broke.
By now, #2 is #1 about 20 minutes ahead of me. So much for the "don't go too fast" pace, I'm on a mission. Here comes the "Cow Bell" guy again, passing him, can't stand the rings. Keep up the gears. Man, this bike feels so slow compare to the hardtail. but funny how my back feels much better! Don is keeping track of the time: I'm catching her, 5 minutes per lap. I got the hardtail back, but the shifting sucks really bad. I'm gonna cry! I don't want another mechanical problem! I never adjust the derailleur cable on the fly when I ride. well, now is the time to start! Better. But my back and my arms are stiff again! The following lap, I'll switch back to the racer-X, and after that, never went back to the hardtail again! After 3 laps of trying to catch up #1, Don convinces me I should just keep going my own pace to avoid hitting the wall. Time to eat more than some energy drinks, let's cook the pasta! Stomach wise, I'm feeling good and I'm actually surprise cause at Old Pueblo, after 4 laps (and 8 hours in the race), my stomach hurt. Somehow, I'm doing something right here. Hey, I won't tell you what!
By then, the night had set in and despite the lack of a Moon, it's so nice out there with all the stars. Not that I'm looking up much. It feels like I'm on the Moon, the terrain seems smoother, but it's only appearances. The rocks are still there, for real, and I can feel each of them through my fingers, my arms, my shoulders, my ass. Shammy butter is the best invention even before peanut butter and shirt pockets!
Somehow, by midnight, I had 10 laps in and I was back to the lead position among the girls. Barbara hadn't show up for a while (according to Don) and I was 2 laps ahead of #2.
I was in the top third overall and I decided that 20 laps was achievable and I was gonna go for top 5 overall. In the morning before the start, Chuck (Wheeler) had told me "the real race starts at midnight". He's a more experienced soloist rider than me, I had to believe him! It was midnight and I was ready for it. Feeling good baby, my Mojo was with me.
I had kept the music for the night. By 2:00 AM, after catching myself riding off the trail a couple times, I figured I was ready for it. Here it comes. "R.O.C.K. in the USA, R.O.C.K. in the USA. rocking in the USA" I'm singing while bouncing up and down those freaking rocks. Why didn't they put the course on Pemberton loop instead? I don't care, I didn't sign up because it was gonna be easy. Lap after lap, I know exactly how fast or slow I'm going. If I'm not listening to Santana by "the" step, I'm slowing down and I need a Cliff shot at the top of the hill. My MP3 player only stores 1 hour worth of music, so I've been listening to the same songs over and over, lap after lap, restarting it at the beginning of each lap. But Baloo picked only good songs when he selected them for me...
I have to say many thanks to the volunteers who spent the night at the food stop at the top of the climb on the long loop. What a bunch of troopers! I was nice and warm pedaling my bike up and down the hills, and I felt bad for them because they were freezing their butts in the cold of the night. They were there for us, the riders, handing out Cliff shots and Gatorade with plenty of words of encouragement. "I'll have the full-of-caffeine shot!". By the end of the night, it sounds like they know to only hand out the strawberry-caffeinated ones! One of them told me something like "wow, you're flying! That's the 3rd time I see you and I've only been here a little over 2 hours". well, it was probably more like 2 ½, but it boosted me up! The rocky downhill didn't feel as bad on that lap!
Sunrise on the Saguaros. Arizona is such a nice place on Earth. Come on, only 6 hours to go. 15 laps in. 5 to go, you can do it! Barbara shows up again and as I pass her, she picks up the pace, passes me and takes off like a rocket. I become paranoid and got to think she could have slept, be fully rested and was now ready to hammer down and catch up with me. I can't count anymore, get confused with my number of laps, hers, and switch to high gear to try to keep up, but she disappears ahead. She sure got my attention. kept me moving anyway! Between 6:00 and 9:30 AM, I got 3 more laps in and was up to 18 laps. Only 2 ½ hours to go: wow, plenty of time to do 2 more laps! I realized that she wasn't such a threat afterwards, she was actually 3rd and Terri was 3 or 4 laps behind. Don tried to convince me I could do 3 more laps, not just 2, but I didn't buy into that horseshit. Give me a break, my hands and my forearms are killing me! My butt is OK, thanks for the concern. and thanks again to Shammy Butter!... but maybe I should have used some Shammy in my gloves too! My palms are red and hot from the friction, but I figured some Shammy wouldn't help the shifting with the sram shifters. If I can be top 5 by doing only 2 more laps, I'm NOT doing more, OK? So can somebody tell me please if I can be top 5 with 20 laps? Nope. OK, I guess I'll just do 2 more and we'll see how it shakes at noon!
Last Lap!!!! Yeah!!! Finally!!! I feel like I'm going soooo slow, but I'm still passing a few people. Keep the pace with the rhythm. If I can cross the finish line before Queen plays "We are the champions" (last song on my MP3 list.), then I'm done just before noon! So, what's the rule again? Do I have to wait til past noon to roll in? At the Old Pueblo, you had to finish the last lap after noon or else you were DNF. I wasn't gonna take a chance! My brain can't remember anymore, so let's play it safe.
12:03 PM at the official clock and I'm there and. I'm DONE!!!
Goch, what an epic ride. Man, I tell you what, I thought it would be much harder. Just kidding!
Thanks so much to all of you who cheered me along the course for 24 hour non-stop!
You made me fly! |
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