Start Time 8pm
End Time 8am
Team One Cog - Jon, Kyle and Andy
This year marked the 2nd annual 12 Hours @ Night Mountain Bike Race. This is an endurance event in the dead of night here in Prescott. To aid in this event, one must be equipped with multiple lighting systems. A couple months ago my friend Jon Milliken called me up and asked if I wanted to do the race in team form. I told him I would think about it, but the seed was planted. A couple more phone calls by Jon, and it was sure thing.
The plan is to do a 3 man single speed team for the event. With Jon and I already in, the search for a 3rd rider begins. I asked some friends we usually ride with but they were either out of town or had other plans for time of this event(read chicken). This is where Brooke comes in, she offered to be the 3rd "wo-man" for our team if no one else "sacked up." With Brooke in, that makes 3, we register and Team One Cog is formed.
With about 6 days till the event, we take care of the little details. Lights, starting order, nutrition and sleeping arrangements. Monday the 12th.......Kyle, a regular at SUBWAY and also a fellow mountain biker, comes in for lunch and Brooke happens to mention that we are doing the race and asks if he is participating. Kyle responds with," No, I would like to do it, but I would have to do it on a team and not solo." Brooke's eyes light up with excitement. She then asks if he wants to take her place on Team One Cog. Without a blink of an eye, he says yes. Totally surprised, Brooke is overwhelmed with joy, now knowing she doesn't have to compete. Not that she isn't a competitor, but that she was just a "last resort" if you will, to fill the 3rd spot.
Race Day July 17-18, 2010
With the order set. Jon, myself and Kyle 3rd, we had a good plan. Two laps per rider minimum with the option for more if feeling good and strong. With only one other team competing in the 3 man single speed division, it was first place or last place.....plain and simple. As our competition rolled into the parking lot, we sized them up. They looked pretty serious. The came from Phoenix and were not going home empty handed. We had nicknames for them just like the movie Reservoir Dogs. Let's start with Mr. Tuxedo, he had a tuxedo jersey on. Mr. Mohawk, he had an acrylic Mohawk that was illuminated from within on the top of his helmet, and Mr. Orange......only because he had an orange jersey on.
My mom showed up to cheer us on and support #125 - Team One Cog which was nice. As the darkness drew near the pressure was on. Adrenaline pumping, bikes at the the start for the "Le Mans" style start, Jon laid down a furious pace as best he could as rigid clip less shoes would allow. With about a "guestimate" of 40 minutes between each lap, Brooke had us on schedule like a Marines drill instructor. She should've had fatigues on with a side arm and whistle.
Jon checked in after his first lap with a time of 41min, he gives us the OK and he took off for his second lap. I go back to camp to get ready. For teams there is an exchange of a "Live Strong (LSB)" bracelet to aid in control of who is on the course. I check in at the time table and put my steed in the holding pen and await for Jon return.
Jon comes in off his second lap with a time of 45min, dismounts and walks toward me and hands off the LSB for me to start my laps. With 10 1/2 hours to go, no need to hustle.....wrong, I set out on a furious pace. I had that 20t cog whipping around like nobody's business. I had to remind myself to take it easy and don't blow up. As I spun around the 8 mile course, I could see many lights blazing up the trail in front of me. This was going to be a fun, but a long 12 hours of fierce riding. In my rush I forgot to grab my gloves from the chair and was riding bare handed. No good.
As I pull into the pit area, I'm greeted with the most "awe inspired" looks one can imagine from Brooke and Kyle. Kyle, now fully dressed in his riding gear, was looking at me in total amazement, and me.....well, I'm puzzled. I can't figure out why Kyle is dressed already and waiting for me. " Was I that slow that they are pulling me off already?" Both looking at me in total confusion.....then I hear from Kyle...."Are you going out for your 3rd or what, you feeling Ok?"........3rd? I think to myself? What? Brooke says, "Yeah, you did two 25 minute laps.......What the hell!!! I was stunned too, because all I remember doing is one.
Now it's all coming together for me.......the looks were of total astonishment that I could pull off such a feat. That would be great if I could, but I didn't. Somehow, the lap times were mixed up between a couple of teams and I set a new course record, twice! At first, everyone thought, " no way, no way could he pull that off." With the pros coming in @ 32 min, it was hard to believe, but then when I rolled in from the "second lap", it was exactly 25 minutes from the first lap that was mis-marked.
Totally plausible since it was dead nuts from the first. As I rolled away, I was laughing at the whole situation, especially the looks that were thrown my way, you would've though I walked on water. With my first actual lap time of 44min, I was off for my second, Brooke had spotted my gloves and had them waiting for me. Still chuckling, especially from Kyles' look, he's a mountain bike racer from Michigan, he's very fast and capable on his bikes. He was just" dumbstruck" if you will, I must of been a "sleeper" in his eyes and his look of
"how in the hell did he do that fast of a lap" was priceless.
My second lap, 45min. With the hand off to Kyle, he was out of there on a hurry. Not to be out done by my 25 minute lap times, he burned up the trail. His first lap was 35min and his second 38min. He was quick, quick enough to put us up 8 minutes ahead of the other team. Kyle was our anchor if you will. He was obviously the quickest out of the 3 and for good reason, he was young and a seasoned racer.
With Jon on his second set of laps I head back to camp for some R and R. But none was to be had. With the race promoters stereo pumping out the jams to keep everyone fired up, it was hard to get any rest. Just eat, drink and lay down till you're #'s up again. Jon pulls another consistent set of laps @ 44min. I hop back on my SS and pedal away. This time, relaxed and not in such a hurry. Maybe too relaxed, I cooled down too much and had a hard time firing up the "ol'stems" to get them going again. I felt good once I warmed up until I hit the hill known as "widow maker." Steep and short, I felt my legs starting to ache from the grunt of the climb in single speed form. I pedaled through it and began to head for the switchbacks at the end of the course. With only a couple of turns to go till the tunnel, I suddenly find myself on the ground in darkness. My helmet light went dark after I was tossed off my bike and the battery became unplugged.
Back to my feet and plugged the light back in, only to find out that someone else had gone off the trail and kicked a grape fruit sized rock onto the trail. As I made a hard right I hit the rock and it rolled out from under my tire. I can feel the blood running down my right arm and leg. Sunnofabitch! That blows. I pull into the pit area, Brooke's there cheering me on, I show her my battle wounds. Immediately, the "mommy gene" kicks in. Oh my gosh! Are you OK? You're bleeding...blah blah blah. I'm OK. With a fresh bottle of water and weary eyes, I tell Brooke that this is going to be a tough lap and it's going to hurt. One thing about biking at 2:30 in the morning, you don't know how your body is going to react. Mine was confused and wanted to go back to bed.
I set out for lap #4 after my 3rd lap of 45min.......and that includes a crash, I was surprised at my lap time. I felt weak and slow, but still had one more to do. Out near the edge of the flats, I passed a couple of riders, they must have felt worse than I did. Now headed for Heartbreak Ridge, I could see more riders struggling to make it up. I pedaled past them and was thinking ahead towards Widow Maker, I wondered if my legs could withstand the blunt steepness at the onset on this part of the course. With momentum as your friend on a SS, I tried to keep spinning my pedals with my legs on the "fierce setting," but it was too late. My legs were begging for a break. I wasn't too familiar with the sensation of cramps that I had received courtesy of the Whiskey on "Cramp Hill". I was worried my legs would do the same again, but not now! I don't have time for that and didn't want it to happen again, I hopped off and walked up the remaining 25 feet of the steepness, jumped back on to pedal if out. I looked back and saw another rider starting to make his way up the same stretch.
Oddly enough, except for this lap, I really hadn't encountered many riders on the trail for much of the race. This was about to change. As the space behind me was lit up by lights, I only wonder who's coming up from behind. By looking at the number plates as they passed, 3 riders all on gears were contenders for the solo geared division. They passed with some speed and then darkness set in. Further down the trail and almost back to the pits, there was more light coming from behind. Who was this? Another single speeder, he passed me on the left. Then his number plate lit by my helmet light.......... #124. Our other competition. It was Mr. Orange. He managed to make up some time due to my "tinkling on the flowers" and partial walk up Widow Maker. He was all business, he was also spinning a 32-18, just a bit harder gear and more ground covered per pedal stroke, he was able to catch up and pass me.
Now towards the end of the course, I kept him in sight and knew I was not far behind. We both sped to the pit area to make the rider swap. Second lap time 47min. Only 2 minutes behind them and only 4 1/2 hours to go......this is going to be more of a race than I thought. Both teams equally vying for a chance to be the winner. The lead would go back and forth throughout the night. Kyle is pedals out into darkness, now we wait.
Unlike us, the other team was rotating every lap with a new rider. Was this strategy going to pay off or be their downfall? While I was out riding, it was decided that after Kyle gets done with his 2 laps, we would go to just 1 lap each, until the 12 hour time limit was up. After the way I felt on this last lap, I agreed. I headed for the Subie to get some food to replenish and hopefully get some sleep.
I awoke a short time later, I had fallen asleep for about 45 minutes. A recharge if you will. What a difference, I saw Kyle making his way to his chair to relax, he just came in off his second lap and Jon was now out on the course for a single. With daylight approaching, I decided to shed a few pounds worth of batteries and lights, refilled my water bottle and headed for the pits. Brooke was doing her best to keep tabs on the other team. Jon came in and I was off. The trail barely visible by the faint rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon. The end was near. That bit of shut eye really did wonders. I knocked out Heartbreak and took on Widow Maker like I had a fresh pair of legs.
The sun now breaking over Mingus Mountain, I finished up the last of 5 laps and came into the pits hand the LSB to Kyle. But he was nowhere to be found. As I rolled into the pit area, all I received was another strange look from Brooke. A "what are you doing here so early look." I was so taken by her look that I forgot to dismount and rolled all the way up to the time desk and was threatened with a 5 minute penalty for not dismounting my bike. I apologized to the staff as Brooke ran off towards our base camp to get Kyle. With in a couple of minutes Kyle mounted up and he was off. I asked," what had happened and why he wasn't ready to go?" The response. "Because you were doing 44 minute lap times and you showed up too early, you're not supposed to be here for another 8 minutes"..........my lap time was 37 minutes. Gee, thanks. Apparently a lot had transpired while I was asleep and on my last lap. We were now 21 minutes up on the other team. Mr. Mohawk had a horrendous lap as did Mr. Tuxedo. They must have finally "bonked" or hit the wall.
Mr. Orange looked on as I came into the pits. We tallied the times as Kyle headed out at 6:01am to tear it wide open. Mr. Orange, in street clothes, looked on with head down and spirit broken. Victory was surely ours. I hung around in the pits to strategize with Brooke. With a 7:30 cut off time lurking in the distance, no other riders could venture out to do a lap with the race ending at 8:00 am. Mr. Tuxedo heads out for another lap at about 6:22am. With encouraging words from his fellow teammates. He heads out to hopefully catch Kyle. But looking at the time sheets, this was not to be done, his lap times were progressively slower, from 44 to 46 to 48 and now down to 52 minutes, no way. With Kyle's lap times around 38 minutes, victory was ours. Kyle pulls in, we inform him that the other team is still mashing the gears, he decides to go out again for an " insurance lap." Icing on the cake if you will.
It was a good thing too. Kyle now out on lap #16 for Team One Cog, Mr. Tuxedo comes in at 7:26am for their 15th lap. Surprisingly Mr. Orange suited up again for a last hurrah and blazes out of the pits. Mr. Orange is a strong rider, he was turning 38 minutes lap times just like Kyle. Could he pull this off? Can he do a 33:59 minute lap to come in under the 8:00am cutoff. I head out to meet Kyle at a trail junction not too far from camp and tell him that Mr. Orange is headed out and not to take it "too easy." With a 21 minute lead time, Kyle wasn't worried. I head back to wait for the results. Kyle pulls in a short time later. The wait is on. Can Mr. Orange pull this off? The race promoters get the crowd involved and let them know what's happening. With just a couple of minutes till the cut off time, he appears over the ridge. His orange jersey easily visible, back and forth as he weaves his way down the hillside. The crowd cheering and chanting........here he comes.......he crosses the finish line. The time..........8:01am. Times up! He did pull a last lap of 35 minutes, but it was a minute too late. Even if he did finish that lap in time, we still had a faster "overall time" for the same amount of laps.
There was a pretty good size article in the local paper about the race as well. Story can be found here.
The Final Results:
12 Hours of Mountain Biking
Total Lap Count: 16
Jon - 5 laps
Andy - 5 laps
Kyle - 5 +1 "insurance lap"
Winners: Team ONE COG on the left: L to R - Jon, Andy and Kyle
Second place : R to L - Mr. Mohawk, Mr. Orange and Mr. Tuxedo
- kudos to them for being nice guys and great mountain bikers.
Good times, Good Race....AWESOME TEAM.......Now, the only thing we have to do is come back next year and see if we can hold on to the title. Thanks to Jon, Kyle and Brooke. Brooke did a great job of keeping us on track and ready to go.
