I entered my first 24 hour race last year at this same event (held in June then) and learned a lot about what to eat, wear, drink, etc. I was last out of 5 at the first one, calling it quits after about 17 hours of punishment and freezing cold weather. After that experience, I decided I would take a stab at the series this year, which consists of two 24 hour races, a 100-miler and an 8 hour race. The series is determined by the number of miles accumulated during the races. At Cool, in May of this year, I had what I thought was a terrible run in the mud there, but found out after stopping at 18 hours into the race that I was in 2nd place. My goal has been to ride the entire time….a lot harder than it even sounds after seeing the sunrise on the tail end of the race.
This time, I had more motivation and experience to do well and I was set on riding out the clock. I drove my car packed with gear/food/water to Boggs on Friday afternoon, through 107F temps through the hills on the way, wondering if I was biting off more than I could chew. “It’s awfully hot to be in the saddle all day/night/day” I thought to myself during the drive, drinking ½ gallon of fluids just along the way. After getting to the venue, it was noticeably cooler at only ~85-90F...how refreshing. I set up camp and snacked for the remainder of the day. That night it only cooled down to ~75F and I was feasted upon by every winged creature in the area, getting just 2 or 3 hours of actual sleep before the 11:00AM race start Saturday. My pit crew, Steve Hulbert showed up early Saturday with extra ice and water…that becomes important later.
The few hours before the start somehow always end up being a frenzy of “I can’t believe I almost forgot to do that” last minute preparations. I guess that part of racing never goes away, no matter what the race distance and amount of planning. The heat was already building quickly during morning prep and again I was getting a little concerned about cramping, dehydration, etc. 11:00AM came, everyone started pedaling and it was obvious that there were two groups after about 100 yards - 24 hour solo racers and everyone else. It was easily 85F at the start and climbing fast. The first lap was taken very easily and I brought just one water bottle as the laps were “only 8.6 miles and 1200’”…I could do that standing on my head I told myself. After rationing water and finishing the bottle with about 2 miles to go in the first lap, it was obvious that I was going to have to take two fresh bottles per lap, topping off with a big guzzle in the pits each time through. It quickly rose to the mid 90’s as forecasted. The two bottles were gone before the end of the second lap, so I decided two things: A. drink more in the pits, and 2. Ride slower. I did both for the next 6 or 7 hours, downing (2) 28-ounce bottles with big chugs of various “ade”-like drinks and Endurolytes each time I came through my pit area. During the day, I came across few people per lap one the edge of the trails with cramps, overheating and the like….it was really hot.
The three other guys from our team, Xtreme Outfitters Race Team, Jon Pritchett, Bill Purcell, and Hyland Fisher, took 3rd/4th/5th respectively in the 8 hour solo Pro/Expert class! The sun went down a short while after the 8 hour racers finished at 7:00PM, then it got very “quiet” out on course…much less “on your left” kind of calls from behind. As it got dark, lap after lap, the heat became more and more bearable. The night laps seemed to take much longer even though most all lap times (actual time spent outside the pits) were within about 15 minutes of each other for the entire race, ranging from a fastest of :58 to a slowest of about 1:15. The night took its toll on me as I started having more trouble getting back on the bike after each stop to refuel, sometimes spending an extra 20 min regaining my composure. There were two times early morning that I took 1 hour breaks to get some rest, hoping to catch up on much needed sleep not gotten the previous night….not to happen – even after riding for 16 hours, it was impossible to fall asleep, argh!
The last lap I did (#15), after the second 1 hour break, and at about ½ way around the course, I was mentally prepared to blaze through the pits, grab water bottles and push out just one more lap before I could give myself a chance to call it quits. By the time I finished that lap, I was a changed man, having absolutely none of the resolve I did just 3o minutes earlier. All in all, still a solid run at 21 hours, ~130 miles, ~17,000’ of climbing, 13,000-14,000 calories burned, and over 6 gallons of water consumed (yes, that’s right). I still could not beat Kyle Shild, the rider who beat me in Cool in May. I found out he was 2nd in our class and 7th overall in last year’s series out of 335 racers, so I’m in good company. Kyle Shild is an absolute machine, turning 19 laps in and going about 1 hour longer than I did. I was second in the race and solidly in 2nd place for our age group in the series going into the Tahoe-Sierra 100 on Sept 11th.
The bike, is not so happy right now. It’s in need of some serious TLC.
Big thanks to Steve for feeding me and the bike for the duration, and for kicking me in the ass occasionally. And thanks to Hyland, Jon and Bill for their help with additional drink mixes (much needed), bike maintenance and motivation boosts.
Kyle, I’m gonna beat you some day!
Chris Rose on his way to 2nd place at The Coolest 24 II, Boggs Mountain, CA
