When
you are out there... and I mean really out there it is amazing how beautiful and
peaceful it is. A person can learn a lot about themselves out here.
Being alone with your thoughts for miles listening to the wind and the
whir of your wheels and cranks. It is something that really draws you in.
You begin an interesting internal battle in this race. Your body is telling you that it wants to stop and rest. Then you mind is telling you to keep going. You go through some great highs and some daunting lows. But somehow you must always keep going...
Leaving time station 1, in California City, I was on cloud 9! I was feeling good and in the lead to boot. The weather was not nearly as hot as I had planned for (yeah!!) but the wind was relentless. Fortunately I spent a good amount of time training in head winds and they did not bother me mentally, something I have had problems with in training and a few doubles. Physically is another story.
Fortunately the next 30 + miles are primarily flat dessert terrain. This leads up to the Johannesburg climb. It's a 1,500 foot climb in 7 miles. When looking at this climb don't let it deceive! I found this to be much tougher than I had thought it would be. It's one of those climbs you find out in the dessert where it is difficult to tell visually that you are climbing. But not to worry, your legs will tell you!
At this point, the crew, Dan and I were doing exchanges like clock work. We did not once miss an exchange due to a rider not being ready. As soon as we stopped I was out of the car and stretching while the bike was being taken off by James the bike master.
As things go in this race, the feeling good part came and went throughout. As I began the climb to Johannesburg / Randsburg I began to feel the onset of leg cramps....ugh! I held off telling the crew about this unfortunate event and was surprised that I was experiencing them while under 200 miles. I had previously only had them once before during the Davis 12 Hour under very hot conditions. But they quickly subsided. Looking back I should have told them immediately so that they could have helped me past them sooner. Ego, what can I say...
It did not take long for those nasty cramps to return and on my second pull into the climb they returned with force. So much so that Dan had to come down a bit from the original exchange point. I was disappointed in myself for having troubles so early on. When I expressed this to the crew, my friend James started with this, "Just ride your own race Bill." I can't tell you how many times he told me this. Thank you James I needed to hear it every time you said it! I got off the bike and did a good stretch and took some Tums. I read in another race report that the calcium in them helps with cramps and you know what, they do!
If I have to go down and finish another climb, Shish!
- Dan I can't tell you how much I appreciated you taking the last part of that climb!
Tom, being the master crew chief that he is, gave me the next downhill section headed towards Trona. It was exactly what I needed and was recovered in no time. Dan rode the road into Trona while my support vehicle jumped ahead to gas up, grab the best burritos you ever had, and get lights on my bike. On our drive in we came across our fist solo riders. I have to hand it to the soloists, it takes a lot of training, guts, and a butt of steal to race this solo. One day soon, I hope to be one of them.
(Top Left) Dan racing along on the road towards Trona. (Top Right) Bill plodding up a roller just before a great decent. (Bottom Left) Dan and Tom talking with Ron "The Worm" Way's crew (Not the first solo we caught). (Bottom Right) Solo crews prepping bikes with lights for nightfall.
Dan sailed into TS #2 Trona at 6:27 PM. We have now been out on the course for 8 hours and 27 minutes covering 152.5 miles with an average course speed of just over 18 MPH. That's 2MPH faster than what I had hoped for!
(Unknown solo rider)
I took off out of Trona leaping a number of solo riders. "Team Rider coming up" I'd yell as I approached a solo rider. If the solo rider is not aware that you are a team rider it can be tough knowing that you are being passed by another rider, after all it is a race!
Some where along this pull I ran into some difficulty with one of the solo riders. As I approached and began to pass, he sped up. So, I pushed a little harder and passed. But then he rode with me for a minute or two chatting away. Now I did not mind the chat but was concerned about breaking one of the race rules, you must pass another rider within a time limit. If you cant pass and get ahead you must drop behind the rider until you are ready to try again (no drafting event). Well this rider would not let me get ahead so I began to drop back only to discover that his crew had pulled off the road some ways back. So he was using my vehicle to stay legal, so to speak. This really bothered me and I told him that his crew had stopped and that he had to as well. I remember having a few words back and forth before his crew raced up and got behind him. Since my exchange was to take place in a mile, I let him and his newly rejoined crew go ahead. Unfortunately I was so bothered, ok pissed off, by all this that I was not fully paying attention to where the side of the road was after my exchange and my front wheel left the pavement and tore my tires sidewall.
Now I am really pissed! Knowing that there is to be a decent coming up and that my brighter lights are on my Softride the crew begins to work on the wheel. Upon discovering that the sidewall is gone I tell them to get down the spare wheel. Down it comes and on the bike it went, only to discover that sometime during transport it seems to have come out of true and its rubbing my break! So then I tell them to get my climbing bike down and to see if the lights can be switched over (the brighter ones). To my dismay I had forgotten to put the extra mount on that bike which meant that only my less bright light could be mounted! So I tell them to take the front wheel off of that bike and place it on the Softride... down comes the Softride and at that moment I realize I will need the wheel on the climbing bike because I am going to have to go up Townes soon! Ugh.. frustration is well set in at this time. All the while the crew is keeping Dan's crew informed of our steps, they were very confused to say the least! It was decided that we would race ahead, notify Dan's crew that we were going to need some extra time and that Dan would have to take a longer pull than expected. This worked out and the tire was replaced. Looking back on it, I think I would have done that in the first place if I were a little more clear headed about the whole thing!
We race ahead and I get the Softride out and find there is no time to get the brighter lights on it for the decent from Trona to Panamint Valley. Oh well, and down I shoot into the darkness with Michelle following me lighting my way expertly (I was legal with my standard light on, I just would have preferred to have my brighter light). The decent was an E-ticket ride down to the valley.
As we approached the base of Townes we see Steve Born being worked on by his crew. This is one incredible rider! He is on his second pass through the course. He rode the course backward to get to the finish line, grabbed a few hours of sleep and then started with the solo riders. An incredible ride that I could not even begin to imagine!
Tom decided that we would do 1.5 to 2 mile pulls up Townes Pass (a 4956 foot climb with grades reaching 10-13%). The pull lengths worked out great and we passed a number of solo riders on our way up. I was amazed at Dan's power as he climbed. I can remember glancing back and thinking I've got time and the next think I would hear is him yelling to start 5...4...3...2...1... go go go!
As I was preparing for my last pull it was decided that I would take the top and the decent so I loaded up on warm cloths for the way down. I was very excited to be able to take the famed Townes decent. But what I found at the top was a thrill of a lifetime! As I approached the summit I could see many riders and crew working on getting warmer cloths on, stretching etc... this set my spirits high and I began to push harder and harder. As I approached they all began to cheer and yell as I took the summit and plummeted down the other side! It was the most alive a person could ever feel! During the decent I hit speeds of up to 56 MPH and could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body. As you take this decent there are a number of dips that as you approach you cannot tell where the road is, or if there is even a road there at all! Then you dive into darkness as your crew vehicle has not yet come over the top. Its a great rush and a definite thrill ride to the bottom!
The roll out took me to just about the turnoff for Scotties Castle! If you are doing a team event never make an exchange right at the bottom of a hill. Allow for a roll out period so that you don't loose all the speed.
12:19AM Dan arrived at TS #3 Furnace Creek, the races name sake, and our next exchange. 251.76 miles have now been covered with an average speed just under 18 MPH. It is at this point that we discover we are still the first place two person team. It was unknown how far back the next team was but it was speculated that we had a 40 minute lead! Turned out to be a 20 minute lead looking at the time stations reports later.
