Hi, two-wheeler enthusiasts:
I apologize for the delay in getting this written. Many of you have been asking how 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo went this year. The short response is "Great!"
For more details, read on.
For the second year in a row, Kirk was riding with David Sammeth as a duo (the first year Kirk did the race solo). With the truck fully loaded with 6 mountain bikes (2 for each racer, and one for David's wife Janine, and one for me) the guys took off mid-afternoon on Wednesday, February 15th. This year we'd rented a smaller RV near the race site, eliminating the towing and diesel mileage. The guys picked it up Thursday morning, and drove to the race site outside Oracle, AZ. Kirk says it was already mostly parked up, indicating people had started arriving well before the noon Thursday entry time. With the promise of Janine and I doing some volunteering, Kirk was permitted to drive in and park opposite where we'd parked the two prior years, in what turned out to be a far better site (more level, for one thing!) When Kirk called me Thursday evening, they'd ridden the course once, and said it was in great condition and rode fast.
On Friday, Janine and I flew into Tucson. Kirk and David picked us up at the airport, and we took a leisurely afternoon, eating a large and late lunch. In oder to guarantee a good night's sleep pre-event, we were booked into a hotel for Friday. We had a fab dinner at a local small restaurant someone had told David about, then headed to the hotel for a soak in the hot tub before bed.
The next morning we headed to the race venue, stopping for a protein-rich breakfast on the way. The weather was perfect: sunny, clear, and approaching the low 60s by noon. We got moved into the RV, organized the gear, and got David ready for the start of the race. It starts with a run: From about 400 yards, the racers run down a dirt road, past campers, to a holding area for the bikes, locate their steed, and hop on. David decided not to run in bike shoes, and sent Janine off with his shoes as well as his bike. Kirk accompanied him up to the start, and they were off.
Running start
Where's my bike???!!!
Shoes changed, final send-off from Janine
The guys figured on 1:30 lap times, and Kirk got ready to take over as the plan was alternate every lap. In the meantime I climbed up on the back of the RV to get a photo of 24 Hour Town.
Tents, trailers, campers and RVs parked in tight at 24 Hour Town
Next up! Kirk gets ready for his first lap
At the appointed time, we walked Kirk up to the exchange tent to wait for David. At the finish of the 16.1 mile lap, the riders dismount their bikes and walk into a very large tent called the Exchange Tent. There, they check in with a volunteer who records their lap/exchange time and witnesses the teammates exchanging the two inch long dowel that is their race 'baton.' From outside we could hear the announcer called their number, 275, and we knew David was in and Kirk would come out looking for his bike. It was funny to watch people running out, hard, frantically looking for their bikes. Those were people taking it seriously, usually on 4 or 5 person teams who were competing. The rest, knowing the were doing a lot of riding over the next 24 hours, walked out in a relaxed manner. The exchange done and Kirk off, we walked back to the RV conveniently parked right up the road. The first task for the rider coming in was food; I'd prepared Guinness Stew and individual Chicken Pot Pies in advance of the trip, so we were well armed with what would hopefully remain appealing food. Food becomes a big issue with the amount of calories burned per lap. Each started with guinness stew after their first laps, and as much snacks as we could get in them. The laps were fast and trouble free, closer to 1:20 THAN 1:30. No technical problems with bikes, no jumping cholla attacks. Oh yeah, jumping cholla. . .remember that stuff? Here's what it looks like.
No run-ins with this stuff!! Yay!
The race continued so smoothly that Janine and I took off and did our own bike ride, which was awesome. We rode way up the road we'd driven in on, to an area where the course passes nearby. Our calculations put Kirk pretty much at that spot at that time, and we waited so we could cheer him as he passed. We must've missed him by literally a minute or less. We finally gave up, and finished our ride instead. By David's third lap it was time to install lights on his bike and helmet; although he was starting in light, it would be dusk by the time he finished. Sure enough, he was glad to have the lights as he finished. Kirk headed off for the first night time lap, and we continued feeding, lubing bikes and rotating riders through. They were having fun and the weather was holding although the temp was starting to drop.
We figured several things out that really made this event more pleasant and, as a result, more successful: the right food (savory, fairly easy to digest, easy to heat and dish out); regular changes of clothing. Wet sweaty clothes were exchanged regularly for dry; trading every single lap, instead of after two laps as they tried last year; and a goal of 12 laps with sleep in the schedule from roughly midnight to 5, staggered based on ending and starting riders. David rode a 7th lap putting him in after midnight; Kirk was in bed, having been fed and his legs massaged. At about that time, Janine and I went to the exchange tent to volunteer for an hour or so. It was great to view the race from inside. As a volunteer, you're in charge of a notebook with anywhere from 50 to 75 teams log-sheets inside. The announcer calling rider numbers outside is mostly for the benefit of the volunteers inside. With something like 600 solo riders and teams (I'm gestimating approx. 1600 riders altogether) it takes quite a few volunteers to man those logbooks. When you heard one of your team numbers, you would quickly find their page, check the digital clock provided to each station, ask the name of the rider coming in, write in the name of the rider going out, and (at the least) watch them hand the baton between them. Those really following the rules would hand it to the you, and you'd hand it to the next rider. Most got over that formality pretty quickly though. If a team took a break, they would leave the baton with you; if it didn't have the team number written on it, you'd write it on the baton. And as is typical, you'd sit there for 10 minutes, then have three teams come in at once. It was the same as outside -- those trying to race competitively wanted to be in and out as quick as possible; those enjoying the sheer insanity of the event were pretty casual about the exchange. Our one hour of volunteering turned in to two, and as we walked back to the RV at 2 AM we were shocked at the temperature drop. It was cold!!!!
I was back up with Kirk shortly before 6, and heard the announcer from the exchange tent asking for more volunteers. I headed over, and took over a book that included even more teams than my first book. After a while Janine joined me, and relieved the woman who had relieved her originally at 2 AM! We ended up working until the end of the race, which was fun in itself. Here's how the race ends: if a rider comes in before noon, he MUST go out for one more lap. Those trying to get in as many as possible tried to time it so that they made it before the noon cut-off so one more lap would be on their total. For many, though, the timing was imperative to get in AFTER noon so they were done. by 11:30 riders were lining up outside the exchange tent, waiting for noon before they entered to avoid that last lap. One poor guy got to close, though, and triggered the computer. . .forcing him to take one more lap or be considered a DNF (did not finish). He looked pretty miserable at the news. The top solo rider came in intentionally before noon, finishing lap 17, and heading out for this 18th. Now that's kinda sick! Sure enough, at noon, riders strolled in, checked in, and showed us their batons. Some strolled in already changed and with beer in hand, getting their official "finish" time nonetheless. It was actually quite festive, and many, many folks were quite relieved to be done.
The guys enjoyed their morning laps: they'd gotten some rest, and were warmed up and fed some hot oatmeal, and ready for those last few times around. We packed up quickly, got the RV ready to drop off, and head for home. Mission accomplished, we hit the road; the drive was uneventful until we hit Santa Fe where near white-out conditions made the last 10 miles very, very challenging. Home shortly after midnight, this year's 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo was deemed a rockin' success: fun was had by all, 13 laps were completed (4 more than last year!), and we were all home.
I think next year we're gonna try something new, maybe the Mt. Taylor Quad. . . and April's Dusk to Dawn 12 hour race will feel like a piece of cake.
Best regards,
Chandler, Kirk and Jonathon
