24 Hours in the Canyon

Here is the TLDR version (or executive summary for anyone over 35):

I raced my Single Speed MTB in the 12 hour Solo SS 35-49 race on Sunday.  The 12 hour racers started at midnight and finished with the 24 hour racers at noon.  I was able to finish 5 laps in 05:28:37.333 and decided not to continue after that. Cranking my fat ass up the hills and across the rocky terrain did a number my knees. I went into this race 30lbs heavy and payed for it dearly.

However, those 5 laps still scored my 2nd place in my division.

Laps: 5
Last Seen: 5:28:37.3

Split 1: 57:21.730 
Split 2: 58:13.226 
Split 3: 1:02:54.257 
Split 4: 1:16:37.317 
Split 5: 1:13:30.803

Here are the boring details:

My older brother (David), my nephew (Parker), and I all packed up and hit the road early Friday morning to head out to Palo Duro Canyon just east of Canyon, TX in the panhandle.  It's about a 6 hour drive so we hit the road at 5am.  After the longish and very boring drive we arrived at the park entrance to find that the trail was currently closed so we could not do our pre-ride.  Our plan was to get out there around noon, setup our tent in the pit to save a spot (it's first come, first server), do a pre-ride, eat, then go to packet pick up.  

Since we couldn't ride we setup the tent, ate, and then goofed around in the canyon for a while.  Here is a time lapse from my GoPro from inside the canyon and driving out.

Since we couldn't pre-ride we went back to the hotel to check in and relax until packet pick up at 3pm.  When we went to pick up the packets we found out that they had open the trails so we hurried back to the hotel, got out gear ready, and drove back down into the canyon.

We were worried about the condition of the trail since there has been so much rain over the last several days but for the most part the trail was okay.  It was soft in some places and really rough in others.  The rain had washed over the rocks and exposed a lot of hard edges.  My rigid single speed was punishing me on this terrain.  I ended up going down in one section when I tried to make a turn with too much speed.  You can check it out here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GseUdzwITQ

Once we got cleaned up and ate dinner, the long wait until 12:00am Sunday morning began.  We tried to sleep on Saturday afternoon after wandering around in Canyon, TX but no one could get much if any sleep.  We eventually decided to pack up and head down into Palo Duro around 8pm.  We got down in the canyon and unpacked all the stuff we would need for a long night and morning on the bikes.  Here was my setup.  

The 24 hour guys started their race at noon so we watched them coming in and out of the pits while we waited for our start.  We eventually got dressed, turned on our lights, and rode our bikes to the start line.

We started right at midnight and took the paved road up to the trail entrance and then jumped on the trail.

I would love to give you detailed lap by lap analysis but honestly I don't remember a whole lot from the race.  It's like a dream with just bits and pieces that jump out.

 David, Parker, and I stayed together on the 1st lap because we wanted to make sure everyone got at least one lap in.  It was very different riding the course in the dark.  Even with the fantastic lights (TrailLED) you can still only see so far and have little to no peripheral vision.  The lights and shadows play jokes on your eyes too.  The 1st lap was good.  David and Parker pitted faster than I did so they went out without me and I was on my own.  Even though there are a lot of people riding it's amazing how you really don't see anyone while riding these events. On my second lap I saw 3-4 other riders and even less on my 3rd lap.  All the riders were super friendly and everyone had nice words for each other.  

My legs felt good and I was moving along at a comfortable pace (at least one I thought I could hold for 12 hours) but I was having problems getting to a comfortable temperature.  It was really chilly in the pit (50F with a breeze) so I put on a jacket for the start of the race but 10 minutes into my first lap I was burning up.  So on lap 2 I took off the jacket and I was shivering by the end of lap 2.   So I threw on a lighter jacket and about halfway through lap 3 I had to take the sleeves off the jacket and that seemed to be okay.  I also had to change my bike shorts between lap 2 and 3 or lap 3 and 4.  I ended up putting on the wrong pair to start and they kept falling down.  So I was constantly having to pull my pants up while I was riding.  The best part was when I was changing I was having a hard time getting the new shorts up because of my sweating legs and ass and I dropped my towel.  So I am standing there with my ass hanging out for most of the other teams to see.  Everyone was so tired no one cared.  I did get a couple cat calls though.

Riding that late and night was hard and between 3-4am was the hardest.  I swear I fell asleep on my bike a couple of times and that was scary as hell.  Out there in the quiet and dark, it gets lonely even with the coyotes yipping just off the trail.  Navigating a trail at night and while tired is hard at times.  There were several wrong turns that sent me down some rough parts of the trail.  One mistake sent me off a nice 16 inch ledge.  It's always nice with the ground just disappears from beneath you.  I might have screamed the f-work like a little girl.

When I started lap 4 my knee was starting to hurt and not the general ache that I get in my knees sometimes.  This was a different hurt.  I under estimated the roughness of the course and how fat I was.  I was having to work really hard to crank my fat ass up the hills and it was hurting my knees.  Especially my left knee.  The downhills were really rough and that was just shaking the hell out of all of me.  (Did I mention I ride a rigid single speed, NO SUSPENSION).  

So during lap 5 I decided I had had enough.

So I stood there for a couple minutes, then I sat down refusing to press the "Save" button on my Garmin.  That would mean I was really done.  I stared at it for 30 minutes until I was shaking from sitting in the clothes.  Then I pressed it and accepted my fate.  

I rode 41.5 miles over 5 hours 28 minutes and 37.3 seconds and I felt like I had failed.  I rode my bike for 5.5 hours over rough single track and I felt like a failure.  What the fuck is wrong with me?!?  My nephew couldn't continue after 6 laps (50+ miles) and he felt the same way.  

As it turns out my 5 laps was enough to get my 2nd in my category.  Mainly because there were only 2 of us.  I know I'm not suppose to tell y'all that.  I'm suppose to just brag about my trophy.  But I am proud of myself.  I worked damn hard on my 5 laps and no one else was there to take 2nd way from me.  

The best part of the day was our entire group got on the podium.

After all of this we had been awake for 35+ hours.  We got some food, cleaned up, and crashed for a couple hours before getting dinner and passing out for the night.  No one was in shape to drive home that day so we stayed and extra night and drove home this morning. 

I can't do this blog without a shout out to my trusty steed!!!

I really enjoyed this trip and it was great to actually ride my bike on dirt.  I can't tell you how awesome that was but this will probably be my last race for a little while.  I need to get my head on straight and get these 30lbs off if I am going to continue to race my single speed.  I'm hoping that will light a fire under my ass to get my weight back under control.  So tomorrow I will get on the scale to access the damage and then start chipping away.  

Here is a link to some additional photos:  https://goo.gl/photos/SUwMDtKQYQg2iZgP8

Here is the strava activity of the race: