Well, I suppose the speculation was true after all. I drove to Austin with my best friend Laura, her 2 dogs, my dog, 2 bikes, and a lot of gear last week to compete in yet another edition of 24 Hours of Rocky Hill. Considering the circumstances, it was a trip I shouldn’t have made, but I had some stuff in the basement at Rocky Hill and this little voice inside my head told me I needed to get it out, or at least run myself into the ground trying. No matter how much I tried to reason with myself, myself simply refused to not make this trip.

I was still hungover from Colorado Springs. That race was only 3 weeks prior, and that is pushing it as far as recovery time goes. Mentally, I was still a little stuck on losing that national jersey. I didn’t have much riding time in between races, and that really worried me. I was also sick with a cold for about 8 days leading up to the day we left for Austin. I was busting ass at work and didn’t feel very rested. The drive to Austin was tiring and I didn’t get good sleep Thursday or Friday night before the race. There were some really big dogs signed up this year, and I knew deep inside I didn’t have what it would take to beat them. There were also a few new names on the roster that I haven’t raced with before but sensed they might bring a good fight. And there are people like me who don’t pre-reg and just show up. I knew the Texas heat would likely give me problems again.  To top it all off, my main go to bike had developed a crack in the frame and was un-rideable. Just 6 days before the race, I had to pull Proud Mary out of the shed, dust her off, and swap all the parts out. I hadn’t ridden this bike for ages. It’s a different feel, and although I got the fit close to the other bike, it wasn’t a perfect match. I knew this would probably cause some fatigue problems in weird areas, not to mention just mess with my game.

So yeah, I knew going in things weren’t looking too bright. However, the only thing that bothers me more than losing is not trying in the first place and wishing you had.

We drove up a little later on Saturday morning than I would have liked, but I’d done the 90 minute setup scramble many times before so it didn’t phase me too much. I cut it real close, making it to the LeMan’s start right as the gun went off. A quick jaunt around the pond and the race was on.

The Players: Shaun Taylor, a 24 hour world’s champ from Rossland, Canada and also the guy that finished 2nd to me in the 2007 race was here. He was the man to beat, especially since he was rocking the Singlespeed. With him was Dave Frank’s, last years 2nd place finisher, and also a world’s podium finisher. They came down from Canada since this years 24 Hour Worlds at Canmore was cancelled, and they were well trained for it. John Russell, last years champ, was not racing this year, but running pit for these two. I setup my tent next to theirs and John was able to help me out a lot throughout the race too. I considered Dave a very strong threat, but still considered Sean the man to beat. Man is just a beast. Also in attendance was Jamon Whitehead from Utah. I’ve raced with him before and he is a very strong rider. The usuals Ray Porter and Marshall Bell were also here. I wasn’t too concerned with them, but was aware they could put up a good fight and make the race that much more tougher.

The Race: fearing total body shut down from heat exhaustion like last year, I paced myself early on. I just wanted to get in some smooth moderate laps and stay out of trouble with the heat. I felt like I gauged my efforts just right, but still, the heat was killer. It warmed up somewhere between 85 and 90 with lots of humidity and my Colorado acclimatization was not liking it one bit. I was feeling sluggish from all the factors I mentioned above. If I got too close to threshhold, I could feel nausea begin to creep up and I just had to back off. I couldn’t wait for nightfall and some cooler temps to set in.

The sun eventually did set, but the temps didn’t drop much. That nasty heat refused to leave the woods. My jersey was fully unzipped and I was still dousing myself with water. I felt like I had good legs and good lungs. Even though I was riding rigid singlespeed, I didn’t feel like the course was taxing me that much. Instead, the heat was driving my heart rate and blood pressure through the roof. There came a very low point where I finally had to stop and cool off. I dropped from 3rd down to about 6th. The win was definitely out of the question now, but I had to keep my hopes up and gun for a podium finish. I was not going to quit this time.

I slowly got up, got back on my bike, and headed off into the night. It was comeback time. The break did me well, and very methodically, I began to pull riders back in throughout the night. At some point, the lead changed and Dave was now the man to beat with Sean taking a long break in the middle of the night. I had just caught Jamon who had been in third and kept the gas on to take his spot. Eventually, I caught up to Sean and moved back into 2nd, but only for a brief while. I don’t remember what lap it was, but it was my last full night lap. I got a slash in my sidewall and had to stop twice to fix it, setting me back probably 15 minutes. Later in that lap, my helmet battery died, leaving me with the handlebar mount. I stopped to switch the the two so I could have better control over where I pointed the light, setting me back another 5 minutes. I was still in 2nd, but let me tell you, having Sean Taylor chase your ass is one of the most uncomfortable feelings in the racing world. He is a mighty wolf, I a wounded rabbit, and he can smell blood from miles away. I limped into the transition zone, sat down for a mental break and a battery change, and sure enough, Sean rolls in, refuels, and heads back out to regain 2nd place.

For a brief moment, I think maybe I can hang with him, but this dream is abruptly crushed when my helmet light again dies about 10 min into the ensuing lap. I try to ride it out with the handlebar mount but begin scraping trees and missing turns, so I have to stop and switch batteries again. At this point, I am very frustrated with batteries and my motivation to get 2nd is gone. Now I just want to try and finish in third. My paced slowed down, but remained consistent up until the 22 1/2 hour mark. The top overalls had been locked up with Dave, Jamon, and Sean. I was holding steady at 4th, and 2nd in SS behind Sean. Ray was in 5th/3rd SS a lap back, and as soon as I found out he had thrown in the towel, I decided I was happy with my 19 lap effort and 2nd place SS and followed suit. That’s how it ended.

In some ways, it was the battle royale I expected, in others, it wasn’t. Nonetheless, I feel it was the toughest 24 I’ve ever done and I was able to take away a lot of good things from the race despite not getting the win. Yeah, maybe I am the Caveman, maybe I do live in the coolest mountain bike city in the US, but I just haven’t had the time to train like I would like to win something as grueling as this. When I think back to about a year ago, I remember saying I wasn’t going to race at all this year and basically took to skiing and drinking a lot of beer.  Lost a lot of fitness and even gained 10 lbs. Then that San Juan Hut race popped up in June, then nationals, then this. So, all in all, I’m happy again. Next year is going to be freaking epic. I have some very big races on the calendar. I think I really will take a break from Rocky Hill finally, but there will be some new and exciting races to take its place. I’ve got some new gear that will allow me to ride throughout the winter so I won’t have to start completely over come March.

Shout Outs: I would like to thank the following people who had a helping hand in my race:

Laura Faubion for providing good pit assistance and being an awesome road trip buddy

Bud, Spaz, and Rocco, for being cool dogs and providing face salt removal services

John Russell for wrenching and also helping out in pit. Love you man, even though you didn’t do anything to slow down Dave and Shaun (j/k)

Zoe Nance of Zoefitness title sponsor

Bobcat13 Photography for race photos. Joel also completed his 2nd 24 hour race!

Terra Firma Racing for putting on yet another awesome race and cool awards

Sam from Ska Brewing for hooking me up with free Ska beer in the Austin Whole Foods parking lot. what a coincidence…

Proud Mary, the bike that I continue to downplay, yet the one that keeps on cranking out the miles.

 

As for the rest of 2012, my cross bike should be here soon and I hope to tool around a little in the local CX scene. MTB season is now completely over as the snow will be here shortly and there aren’t any more races to do in this neck of the woods.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the cooler weather.

Caveman

 

 

There seems to be a lot of speculation that I will be racing at Rocky Hill this year, and I just wanted to make it clear that although I hold this race dear to my heart and would love to go, it is highly unlikely that I will. Someone asked earlier in the year if I would be back for rocky hill, and I said “No, I’ve got much bigger plans in mind” Originally that was to be 24 hours of Moab, but turned into 24 hour Nationals instead. My bigger plans have been fulfilled. My body is tired, in fact I’ve got a pretty nasty cold as I write this. It is a long drive to Austin and a very big expense, one I’m not sure I can handle since I just bought a cross bike. That, and it will require time off work that I really can’t swing right now. Never say never, but don’t count on seeing me there in a few weekends.

There will be a celebrity racer in presence though, and apparently he will be on a single speed too! Shaun Taylor is my friend and nemesis from the first Rocky Hill 24 I did in 2007. He has since gone on to compete successfully at 24 worlds and become a well respected endurance coach. He will be the man to watch. Good luck to the solo open field, you are going to need it against this beast of a man.

Sorry if for any reason I had your hopes up, but you just can’t race ’em all. Now if you excuse me, I’ve gotta shred some singletrack a few last days before the snow gets here…

 

There I was, 17 hours into a grueling 24 hour race. I had been riding well, and for the most part, having tons of fun on this exciting new course. I was in the lead for solo singlespeed national champion. Earlier in the race, I was even 3^rd overall against the geared guys, and that in itself says a lot considering the competition. Things were starting to look bleak though. Just a few laps earlier I was feeling so good I thought for sure I might actually be able to pull this feat off and go home with a gold medal, the thought of which was so tempting it might have been what led to my breakdown. I finished lap 11 in the early morning hours, exhausted from the effort thus far, and harboring a little doubt I could keep it up, but I knew I had to keep going.

Come lap 12, things really started to fall apart. I was now walking all of the steeper climbs and taking some breaks along the way.

This is the story of how I lost that coveted stars and stripes jersey, but also one of how great effort was not for nothing and I was still able to get on the national podium for the first time in my life.

This race will likely haunt me for some time as “the one that got away”, yet at the same time, it is a race that has opened new doors and has led me to believe that there is potential beyond my imagination. It is a story similar to the San Juan Hut 200 race earlier this year where I spent the majority of the race in the lead, but in the end, ran out of gas and fell short of victory. However, I can take away great lessons and move forward with big expectations for the times to come. Mark my words, that jersey will someday be on my shoulders.

A lot of you might think, damn, 3^rd place at nationals is pretty good, and I have to agree it is something to be proud of; it just hurts knowing that I could have had it all and it slipped away from me. I remember distinctly what an awesome feeling I had when I caught up to 2^nd place and the eventual winner, thinking that I had just lapped him. Because I had no one giving me splits or any way of knowing where positions and times stood, because frankly, USA Cycling’s tracking system sucks compared to every other 24 hour timekeeping system’s, I’m not sure if I was indeed lapping him or just catching back up to him since maybe he passed me in transition, I’ll never know how things might have really unfolded.

After finishing that 11^th lap, which I had thought was my 12^th, I realized that maybe I hadn’t lapped him, and now he was in the lead. This caused me to ride lap 12 a little harder than I should have, setting me up for total shutdown on lap 13.

That lap started out ok around 5 in the morning. I was ectastic knowing I had successfully ridden without stopping much throughout the night. I was incredibly fatigued, but hopeful that my next wind would come around. Instead, things got worse. Lots of little parts on my bike were starting to rattle loose, some of which I didn’t have tools to fix. One of my lights died because of poor battery management on my part. Worse yet, my body was shutting down once again. This time it wasn’t a bum knee or heat related, it was something I’ve never experienced before. I was literally losing conciousness and becoming very naseous. There was an aid station about half way through the course. I decided to stop here and lay down for a while and see if I could regain some strength. I was now in 2^nd, but not terribly far behind. The sun began to rise and I felt a little better, so I forged on, slowly. The long break had robbed me of all my body heat and I was terribly cold. The temp might have only been around 38 or 40, but when you are this tired and running on fumes, you feel cold no matter how well dressed you are.

I knew the race for first was likely over when I got back to transition, but thought maybe if I got back there, ate a lot, drank a lot, and rested for a bit, I could get back on the trail and keep fighting for it and at a minimum, hold on to second. This all came to end when I hit a long moderate climb and was overcome by the naseau. I didn’t really have anything to throw up, so instead my body fell into severe dry heaving. One heave was so bad, it felt like I pulled every abdominal muscle I had and fell over on the trail. This was definitely the nail in the coffin. I wanted that jersey so bad, but it was not meant to be this very day. Everyone has their limits, and I had met mine. I slowly and painfully completed that lap to finish in19:34. I had ridden well enough and long enough to finish in 3rd place after all the dust settled. Not to take away from all the other riders below 3rd, they rode hard and well too, but I felt like I only came away with 3rd because the field wasn’t all that competitive. In any other 24 hour race I would’ve dropped to 9th or 10th for pulling out that early, but you know what, showing up to a race like this takes cajones and is half the battle, so mad props to everyone who toed the line.

I originally came to this race not expecting to be in contention for the national title, and instead, just wanted to focus on riding for all 24 hours at a comfortable pace. After finishing 4 laps, the announcer said I was in the lead, and also 3^rd overall. I couldn’t believe it. I wish I’d never even heard him say this as the confidence this inspired in me caused me to up the effort a bit and get out of that so called “comfort zone”. I was no longer riding to just ride. I was riding to win.

Lap 5 was rather magical with this new found confidence. I had time to flirt with not one but two pretty ladies. The first was a cute course marshal signaling the turn off the road climb. The other was a solo woman rider, the one that happened to be setup next to me in solo alley. We had already hit off well and I thought she was cute so I slowed down on a climb to chat relationship stuff before I slapped her ass and rode off. If you are reading this Chrissie, thanks for the memories! I also had time on this lap to stop and help a stranded rider. He had a flat and I loaned him my pump. Apparrently it saved his butt and kept his team in the running. NEVER forsake good trail karma just because you are racing for the win.

Perhaps that Karma wasn’t returned to me this race, maybe it was, but if it wasn’t it will someday, maybe in a time when I need it most. Or, maybe it was from some time in the past when I really needed it and I went on to win. But I digress. The remaining laps up to 11 went by clockwork. Body felt great, I was hydrated, I was eating ok, bike was doing awesome, and I wasn’t stopping hardly at all. I wish it could have continued this way, but it ain’t over til the clock hits 24. You ain’t as tough as you think unless you can ride to the end and execute to your maximum potential.

Like any good shortcoming, there are great lessons to learn. A true competitor looks at something like this and thinks “where did things go wrong. How can I do it better next time?” I know exactly where things went wrong. reason 1: I wasn’t trained enough. In a nutshell, it was a very busy summer and I struggled with personal matters that kept me from riding as much as I could have. I should have taken the momentum from San Juan Hut 200 and built upon it and done better at this race. Reason # 2: nutrition. It was great at the beginning. My caveman food was working well, but if you’ve ever raced hard more than 12 hours you know it becomes increasingly hard to get calories and nutrients in. You reach a point and your mind thinks your body really doesn’t need ‘em. For some people, they can go on like this. For me, not so much so. Historically, I have to take 2-3 long breaks at some point in the race and just sit down and eat whatever I can get my hands on. That didn’t happen this go round since I was really pushing to stay out in the lead. I have already begun development of a new super secret prototype caveman energy liquid drink that will hopefully solve most of my nutrition problems.

Nationals take place in Gallup, NM for the next two years, and you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be back, and I’ll be more prepared. I have had a taste of the gold, and I must say it is very addictive. MTB racing is pretty much done for the year. I might dabble in a few local races, but now the focus switches to cyclocross. I have a new steed in the mail and it is going to be awesome!

Thanks for checking in on yet another wonderful Caveman adventure. More to come…

Caveman Greg