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MountainBikeReview.com's Forum Archives - 24 Hours of Adrenalin Photo Essay Contest
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24 Hours of Adrenalin - The Breaks at Bar H Ranch, Saint Jo, (1 post)
|  24 Hours of Adrenalin - The Breaks at Bar H Ranch, Saint Jo, | KB
Jun 10, 2003 9:32 AM | | I decided to go out to this race at the last minute. I was in the middle of planning a business trip out to the mothership in Wisconsin, so adding a stop in Dallas would be a good way to see what riding and racing in Texas was like (or a small part of Texas anyway).
I had been sick on and off for the last month with a weird sinus infection and it was finally starting to clear up. But being off my bike too much meant I wasn't going to be ready for a hard race, and I really didn't want to get sick again. A "fun" race would be OK though.
Finding a team to race with from out of state is usually tricky. There was about a week to go before the race which added to the difficulty. The Adrenalin "Racer Message Board" was short on teams looking for riders so I asked a friend of mine, Jay Thomas up in Lincoln, Nebraska if he was into it. He's in the vicinity, is real fast and loves to suffer, but he couldn't get away. He'd been our rep in Texas a while back and knew the area and he told me that Richardson Bike Mart would be a contact. So I sent a quick message to sales@richardsonbikemartdotcom, describing the situation, hoping they believed it was really me (and not a prank), optimistic that they knew someone with a team who was short a rider. I got a message from Woody at RBM the next day saying he might be able to come up with something. A bit later he said he'd contacted Max Miley, and Max had a coed team together. He said we should be competitive and have some fun.
Woody seemed was definitely switched on about bikes and racing and the fact that Max had a team together almost instantly was a good sign. They were motivated.
Cool! Jay's tip was working out.
I did a quick check on the weather in Saint Jo and it looked pretty hot (97F on Friday), but it would be cooling off and tolerable on the weekend (85F) and warm in the evenings. Gear would be easy. It was looking like things were coming together.
Jim Hoyt of Richardson Bike Mart met me at the airport. It was a little over 100F when I got off the plane. Welcome to Texas. The weather was looking like it might be a factor. But it was hopeful Jim thought it would be cooling off the following day, especially to the north.
The first thing we did was head out to a velodrome in Plano where his grandson was racing that evening. The Superdrome (http://www.superdrome.com) was built by EDS back in 1998 and was a world class track, but it had fallen into disrepair. Some locals got interested and, together with Jim and some other sponsors, found the will and the way (and the $) to pull it off. They even put a new wood surface on the track. Pretty cool stuff. We had a nice picnic dinner in the infield courtesy of Rhonda Hoyt, and watched Jim's grandson skin the field in the kid's race. Then some very fast locals put on a good show in the main racing program. It brought back memories of Breaking Away Friday Nights out at Hellyer Park in San Jose in the mid-80s, especially the mis-and-out, my favorite track event (as a spectator of course). It was great.
The following morning David and Cole Mootz met me at RBM and we took off for the 24 hour race at the Breaks in Saint Jo, about 2 hours north near the border with Oklahoma. There were some quick introductions and a few autographs to sign (always an honor but still a little weird for me), and we took off for the race.
Driving up to the venue reminded me of the approach to Alpine Valley in Wisconsin for the NCS race there last year. Each course has some pretty serious climbing, but there are no mountains in sight as you approach the race venue on the road. In each case the course is laid out in a deep river valley. There are no extended climbs, just short, steep leg breakers here and there, 1000 feet per lap this time. Though it wasn't as impressive or intimidating as the Alps or Rockies, the course did climb over the highest point in North Texas!
We arrived with just enough time to sign up and set up camp. I met the other riders on the team, we got through registration at the last minute (the Adrenalin folks are getting used to that from me I think), and went back to unload and set up the camp. I couldn't find my gear bag... In the confusion back at the shop I'd forgotten my racing gear in the back of Jim's truck. The choices were riding in flip flops and cotton shorts or an emergency trip back to RBM while the others rode their first laps. If I didn't get lost or arrested for speeding I could probably make it there and back without missing a rotation. Max made a call back to RBM to make sure they were there, and got in touch with Jim. Jim said the bags were there, but the shop was slammed with customers so we should call back in 10 minutes. I got ready to make the dash back and we made the call to Jim. He said no sweat, the bags were on the way out to us. These guys at Richardson are pretty good guys (and I got off the hook again)!
Deciding on a rider order was next, and that's usually an interesting negotiation. But in this case it was simple. David is a triathlete so he got elected to run, and didn't seem to mind. Cool. Max is riding second. Sherrie goes third. John is fourth, and I am batting clean-up.
It turns out that David can run, and ride too. He comes around on the prologue lap in about fifth place and is the second rider back on the first lap. Max takes off and comes around leading the race! After each rider gets a first lap in it turns out that all of these folks are fast. Woody was right - we'll be pretty competitive. The "fun" race is looking less likely though.
I go out for my lap and it goes pretty good too. It's my first time around the course, so I have to figure it out on the fly. It has some climbs, but they are short, steep and only a little tricky, and I can do ok on those. There's nothing terribly difficult technically anywhere else on the course, but just enough to keep my attention, especially in the tight slalom through the trees. I don't want to hit a tree. These sections will be a blast when I get the rhythm down. The last half mile is a big ring push up a gentle, grassy rise to the finish line, so each lap would leave me with a big load of lactic acid in my legs and that can make it harder to recover between laps. All noted.
Call it pride, or ego, or testosterone poisoning, but the plans for riding easy laps I had in mind were scrapped almost immediately. Max was talking about winning the race overall and it looked like we could do it. That was it for the fun race...
I set my bike up conservatively for this course because I didn't have any idea what it was like beforehand. I used a new tubeless Jones AC 2.25 in the front and ran it pretty low (30 psi). It's a big tire so it hooks up in loose rock and floats on sand well. I figured that would work OK for a first lap around a strange rocky and sandy course and it did. The tire hooked up well and gave me some room to make mistakes. It was especially good in the tight stuff in the woods. In the back I ran a smoother Super X tire at 40 psi. It rolled fast so I didn't pay a big penalty on hard packed straight sections and there was plenty of traction on the steep climbs and descents. Once I got flowing later in the race I could push the front tire right to the traction limit in corners comfortably. The smoother rear tire was an advantage in tight sections too. By using a combination of brakes, I could float the rear wheel out sideways just enough to help finish off a turn. It's not something I can do intentionally, but it happens when everything is working. It's the sort of thing that makes me feel like I riding well.
We got through the first two rotations and were in pretty good shape. There was a coed team from Breckenridge that was going to push us (or skin us) in our class, so we had to go hard to stay up on them. Having raced with people from Summit County Colorado over the years I have a deep respect for their aerobic capacity and riding skills; the place is overflowing with exceptionally fast racers. And our laps were stacking up fast enough to let us think about going for the overall.
About then it was clear that Sherrie was in some trouble. She'd never done a 24 hour race before, and the heat and effort she'd put out for the first two laps were taking it out of her. She wasn't able to eat or drink right, and in the heat that could be dangerous. It was smart for her to drop out of the rotation for a while in order to recover. We were down to 4 riders and things were starting to look a little more painful.
Luckily the weather gave us a break. It never really cooled off by my California Coastal standards but riding hard got easier as the sun went down and the temperature dropped a little. Warming up was faster and riding in shorts and a short sleeved jersey at night felt good too, definitely a positive change from most races where the laps at night are cold.
With the exception of a few of the typical problems racing at night, lights running low and the occasional crash, we got through the rest of the race in good shape. Max nearly had the fastest laps (day and night) in the race, but was edged out by a few seconds by a youngster in both. It cost him a nice Mavic wheelset so he was a little bummed. We finished with 28 laps and held on to finish first in the coed category and second overall 20 minutes behind one of the 5 man teams - not bad for a last minute pick up team.
One non-racing highlight of the event was a Labrador puppy wandering around the campsite, charming everyone and trading cuteness for handouts (scrounging food). I found her sleeping on my pile of stuff in the middle of the night. I think she has all the right skills and is going to get along fine at the Bar H Ranch. And, speaking of animal life, there were 3 types of snakes spotted during the event; a rattler, a copperhead and a water moccasin. None tangled with a human as far as I know.
One last thing just prior to the awards ceremony there was a public marriage proposal on the awards stage. Another Texan custom I'd never heard of? Check it out here: http://www.trilife.com/newsarticle.cfm?id=258 . Best wishes to Julie Silvestro and Robert Myers, and thanks for the wine!
Thanks to Max Miley, David Mootz, John and Sherrie McDaniels, for the fast laps. Same goes for the Adrenalin folks for putting on a good race in a good place. I hope there are many more out there. And thanks to Jim and Rhonda Hoyt, Woody and the rest of the RBM staff for putting up with me for the weekend. Check out their shop here: http://bikemart.com |
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