Another 24 hour race is in the books and while the course was primed and fast, my body unfortunately was not. We got up to Albion Hills around 9am to finish getting set up the remainder of our pit. We were fairly low key and I was fairly relaxed. The whole family but myself had a cold and I had been desperately fighting it so I would be healthy for the race. I had a sore throat for a couple of days but that was it and I felt okay on Saturday. The race start was uneventful except for the fools who think they have the right to pass you when it is a steady line of people in the singletrack. That is the way the 1st lap goes so people need to just settle down a little. I finished the first lap in the middle of the pack but I definitely didn't have the top end speed I would have liked. As the race progressed one thing I noticed was how improved my singletrack riding was. I was consistently catching and passing people in that area, only to be re-passed on the double track and climbs. I attribute much of this to the 29er and the increased confidence it has given me this year. I am taking corners much faster than I ever used to. Here are a few pics of the event:
Getting ready for the start of the race with my excellent support crew.
Coming into the pits
Heading out for another lap.
By the evening I had a full blown cold and no motivation to head out riding. I decided to get a good night sleep and ride again in the morning which I did. I ended up in 23rd place which isn't great (out of 31). I need to get better and then work on improving my speed on the double track sections where I was losing a lot of time.
I've been thinking about doing a 24 hour race in Vermont in July. More for a family getaway (the kids love going to these races!) than anything. I'll probably wait until the week before to make a decision on that.
Steve
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