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