let me just start out by saying, 24 hour races are intense. I don't mean it in the keanu-reeves point-break super-bro sense of the word, i mean it in its most literal and real sense.
as it appears in the miriam webster dictionary;
intense
1.existing in an extreme degree - check
2.marked by or expressive of great zeal, energy, determination, or concentration - check
3.exhibiting strong feeling or earnestness of purpose; deeply felt - check
It was a 5 man team, which i can see why has its own category. Any more and you can organize things to maximize sleep and stuff. Any less would be like, what's the point, i should've done this solo.
Fist lap i was a total spastic. This should be no surprise to anybody who has seen me ride a mountain bike, but i still got in under an hour (my goal for the weekend). I saw some dude who looked like the trail reached up and punched him in the genitals and throat. He did NOT finish the first lap. So that was encouraging.
Second lap i decided to take it easy. I wanted to go for a super even keel pace and not spaz out on any of the climbs, as my technical skills are not up to par and 3 of the climbs i would say are above par. It went really well. No falling, couple of times i had to walk, but im starting to get it, which is good because its getting dark.
Third lap was crazyness. It was in the 30's. Let me just say it was a new experience. I don't ride at usually night, and i don't usually ride a mountain bike, so, you do the math. Thanks to Joy tho, for hooking me up with the light. Combining that with the light i already had as a helmet light made SUCH a difference. Still at this point the downhill sections were sketchy as hell. Completely rutted out and several lines to choose from one of which was the correct one. Not easy at night.
4th lap. Pure insanity. 4 a.m. Shadows were jumping out at me. My mind was playing tricks on me. All i could think of were fear and loathing quotes:
"I hate to say this, but this place is getting to me. I think I'm getting the Fear."
"24 hours of adrenaline is what the whole hip world would be doing Saturday nights if the Nazis had won the war. This was the Sixth Reich."
"A drug person can learn to cope with things like seeing their dead grandmother crawling up their leg with a knife in her teeth. But no one should be asked to handle this trip."
"I was right in the middle of a fucking reptile zoo, and somebody was giving booze to these goddamn things. Won't be long now before they tear us to shreds."
"Jesus, bad waves of paranoia, madness, fear and loathing - intolerable vibrations in this place. Get out. The weasels were closing in. I could smell the ugly brutes."
"That's fucking machine guns man, they're firing at us!"
"this bicycle belongs to the world bank! That money goes to ITALY!"
The crazy thing about lap 4 is, i could actually see myself handling better, and getting up the climbs with little skateboard scoots as opposed to walking.
5th lap. I was done. I had desire in me, but the legs were simply not there. For the interim in between my 2 consecutive laps i was just trying to get to sleep. Not enough food consumed, water was frozen, moral was low. That was the craziest lap of them all, because even though i was annihilated and defeated mentally, i still got the lap done in an hour flat. Crazy! My skills have definitely improved.
pics soon.
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