|   Castaic Lake Race Report 5 Person 150-199 Open Class | RandyP
May 10, 2003 9:49 PM | | 24 Hours of Adrenaline Castaic:
Report from Team "2 Timers"
Randy P
Race minus 2 months:
As the race draws near, we are all training hard. I am putting in 150-200 miles a week on- and off-road. The team tries to get in as many night rides as we can. I am riding every morning at 4 am before work. We are all anxious!
Race minus 2 weeks:
We pre-ride the course. The map we received showed the race running counter-clockwise around the track. We ride 2 laps in 30 mph winds and pray that it's not as windy on race day. Dave strips his bottom bracket and the bike shop does not think they can get a frame by race day. Dave will be on a rented bike.
Race day.
Race minus 4 hours:
We pre-ride the course and find out that it's going to be run clockwise which means a single track climb from hell. The winds have calmed down a little though it is still gusting to 20 MPH. Other than the breeze it is a picture-perfect day for a race. Camp is all set up and while we're making last-minute adjustments, checking tire pressures and lubing chains, Charlie's Blur blows over while locked in a repair stand and lands right on the rear derailleur. The hanger is bent so badly that the cage is into the spokes. Charlie is frantic. I pull out my Derailleur Alignment tool and have it straight in about 5 minutes. Charlie comments that the Blur now shifting better than when it was new. The rest of the weekend I'm known as "MacGuyver".
Race time!
Charlie is out first. He comes in fifth in the foot race and about the same in the prologue. He is riding strong. His first lap is under 40 minutes. Brian is out next and he turns in a 38. I am back in with a 41; Damon and Dave both turn in good times at 45 and 40 respectively. We all have our 2-way radios on and call the team when we reach key spots on the course. The first call comes at the first checkpoint at the Green Box. Our second call comes at the "bathtub". Riders check in for the last time when they come across the road and jump the curb. Charlie and I are wearing our heart rate monitors. Our heart rates are both going ballistic and we are well into our anaerobic zones. We need to come up with a new strategy.
Race plus 3 hours:
New heart rate strategy: Charlie and I both take off our heart rate monitors. We figure it's just better not to know. With only four teams in our class, we feel our odds are good at a podium finish. A check of the standings shows we are in first! Charlie goes out with a 20-minute lead. To provide some additional motivation, Bill gets on the radio and tells Charlie we just lost 15 minutes to team #2. Knowing Charlie, I figure we had better tell him the truth or he'll blow up. I get on the radio and tell him we were wrong and we just pulled ahead but he never hears me. Charlie rides a blistering lap. Good thing he took his HRM off.
Race plus six hours:
We check the standings and find we are now in second and there are two new teams in our class. Seems a co-ed team jumped classes simply to improve their standings. What's up with that? They are now one lap up on us and we are one lap up on third place. We are passing more riders than are passing us. The course is becoming familiar and we are all settling into a rhythm. Dave comes in with a pinch-flat and we have a slight problem: his rental bike came with low dollar wheels with Schrader valves and we have no Schrader tubes in the spares box. The Mavic guys save the day and lend Dave a set of Mavic UST wheels and tires. Dave loves the new setup vows to put Mavic UST rims on the new frameset. Thanks, Mavic!
Race plus 12 hours:
The lights have been on for a while and everyone is doing fine. I'm a regular visitor to the Clif Bar tent to stock up on their Mocha Mocha Clif Shots. The caffeine keeps us going through the night. Thanks Clif Bar Guy! We visit the Cycle-Ops tent and use their trainers to warm up before our laps. Nice touch. Our nighttime strategy is to have our riders double up on their laps so the rest of the team can get some down time. I just finished my last single lap and have five hours to crash before my double laps come up. I sleep with the radio on and hear everything that happens. Every 15 minutes or so I hear "Green Box!" or "Bathtub" on the radio. I'm so pumped that I can't sleep. Damon calls me at about 2 am to say he cannot get his HID to fire after he bumped it off on the course. I talk him through the restart process and I do not hear from him again. I am concerned. Five minutes later, I hear the radio and Damon calls out "Green Box!" His lights are OK and he is really making time. I doze on an off and dream about Austin Powers and Forest Gump. Where did they come from? Are those Adrenalin guys showing movies again in the Expo area?
Race plus 16 hours:
It is my turn to do two laps. The temperature has gone down and I am cold. Charlie asks me if I'm OK and when I look at my watch and see it is 4 AM, I tell him I'm fine. This is just like my daily 4 AM training ride. I am the lucky one that gets to see the sun come up over the lake and I am really energized. I cannot decide whether my newfound liveliness is from the sun peaking over the horizon or from the voice in my head that keeps repeating "Run Forest, run!"
Race plus 22 hours:
We are firmly in second place and working up a strategy to make sure that we get in the most laps. For me to have a chance at finishing my lap before noon, Brian and Charlie need to ride 38-40 minute laps each. They both come through. I ride my fastest lap of the race and I get in a dogfight at the finish with a rider from the Chickens in the Wind team. We are both sprinting all-out. I beat him to the dismount area but he beats me on foot off the bikes. I have nothing left. Damon is now out and we now have 33 laps in the books.
The Finish Line:
Damon finishes his lap with nearly 30 minutes to spare. We finish in second by two full laps having completed 34. Of the teams that had originally registered into our class, we finished first. Had the co-ed team that jumped into our class stayed in the division they started the race, they would have finished second. As far as we are concerned, the team that beat us took advantage of a loophole in the rules and got the yellow jerseys. We hope that Tri Life will close this loophole soon. The 2 Timers were still the best team in our class and we finished with class.
The post-race pasta lunch allows us to do some bench racing and swap stories with other teams. There are plenty of prizes being raffled away by Answer Manitou, Hayes, Thomson, Mavic, Cycle-ops, Ellsworth, Nite Pro lights and Mountain Bike magazine. The sponsors were great.
It is our first trip to the podium and it is a neat experience. We are called on stage and receive our awards with the other two teams. Platypus provides hydration packs to second place and Kenda provides tires for the third place finishers.
Wearily, we pack up and say our goodbyes. Thanks Charlie, Brian, Damon, and David for all of your support. Now let's start training for Idyllwild in September! |
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