24 hours of vail lake 2008

24 Hours of Vail Lake

This was my second time to come back to Temecula.  Last year was really funny considering I did nothing right.  This year I did even more wrong but my riding skills have improved.  I know that seems crazy considering I had to drop out from crashing to much.  This race is not something that really fits into my schedule.  I just wanted to do it and not make a big deal out of it.  Most people bring a crew and have a camp set up.  I just showed up with my bike and a little hammer nutrition.  NiteRider was going to be my camp area but right before the race I decided to put my stuff at Terry’s (fast mountain bike chick) camp. She had her hubby to crew for her and a trailer that had some heat in it..  I forgot to get some water so NiteRider was kind enough to go get some for me.   This made my loops even longer. I would stop by Terry’s camp to get my fuel.  I mixed it myself fresh and then I would stop by NiteRiders trailer to get the water to mix and fill my camel back up.  This meant I stopped two times on each loop and anyone who knows me knows that my stops have some chatting involved.  It would have been better if I just stayed with plan A and kept my things at the NiteRider trailer. Tommy from NiteRider has crewed RAAM 6x so he knows how to take care of a rider.  It is to late now but this would of helped in my transitions. 

The gun went off and we had to run around a pond.  I was last in doing this….funny considering I am a runner. I did not want to slow any body down and wanted to take my time. The first part of the course is about a 3 mile climb.  It was nice and hot and I began passing people going up the hill.  There was a really steep part that I walked but I was gaining on people that were riding.  By the time we got to the top of the climb I would see two girls ahead of me.  This got me excited that I could actually see them.  The lead woman was on a single speed so she was walking a little.  Terry was riding everything like a mountain lion. I did not want to have a heart attack so walking was my strategy.   Just before the downhill I looked down and my bars were loose.  I guess I am so used to a crew si I did not tighten them down correctly. I stopped and got my wrench out to tighten things.  This took a tiny bit of time so some of the better riders could get ahead for the technical stuff.   We had a down hill and then it turned into a single track that was hard for me since I have not developed good bike handling skills.  There some technical down hills in this section. The first one was not a problem, the second one was really loose dirt and I crashed on it and scraped got a big gash on my tibia bone. I like let go of the brakes and cannon ball on down hills with loose dirt.  I was behind a guy that chose to brake and to avoid running into him I had to go crash to the side of him.  I cant just slam on my brakes in the middle of a downhill. This rider actually is the reason I went down this time.  It happens.  There were two other down hills that I planned on walking.  One was hard rocks that I think I could of rode but I just wanted to play it safe. The other one was downhill with 3 s turns and loose dirt.  If I was a better mountain biker I would of attempted these and saved some time.  I think the world of Terry and she said she would be walking so I decided to copy her.  The single speed chick rode all of this ..she was really a great mountain biker.   Next was a section that had all the steep hills that required some momentum.  I was flying on this technical downhill and getting my momentum up for a steep climb.  I flew into the other hill at about 30 mph and my suspension bounced me off the trail and I found myself on the side of this hill of in bushes with my bike 10 ft below me.  I did not lay there long.  I got my bike and drug it up the side of the hill back on course.  I was not hurt from this crash. I just had some itchy flowers on me and tore a hole in the back of my shorts. I thought it was really cool that I was safe after such a bad crash.  I had some adrenalin going after this and the rest of the course was a blast.  It was a rolling downhill that was fun to ride fast down.  The end of the loop did have some more rolling hills. I caught back up to Terry again and admired how great she could ride.  I would hike the bike on some of the stuff she was riding. She did get off her bike on one of the rollers towards the end.  It has a steep downhill that is dangerous.  She had crashed on it before and was being cautious.  I bet this is something else I would have tried to ride if I had not seen her hiking it. I tried to ride it every loop last year and had some crashes then.  I have a great deal of respect for Terry so I took some notes and walked the areas she was walking. We both came into the camp together but she did not stop at her trailer. I stopped for a minute and had a glass of milk…yes milk.  I had my Hammer Nutrition on my bike.

The second loop went a little better.  I crashed once and it was in the same place that I had my first crash of the race. I designated this as walk zone for the rest of the race.  I did more walking on technical stuff and rode all the rollers and down hills fast. I was having a ball and feeling like I was doing pretty well. I was all smiles and if I came across a mountain biker I would brag about my wipe out and show them the hole in my shorts.  I had the hole pointed out by another rider but I did not know exactly where it was for another 2 loops.  I went to the restroom at NiteRider camp while they put water in my camel back.  There were some mirrors and I got to see exactly where the hole was. It was right over my crack and exposing me. I was so embarrassed and to make it worse I had been pointing it out to others.  My extra shorts were at Terrys camp so I had to do another loop…crack exposed.  I think by this time everyone had seen my crack anyway. I found out that I was in second since Terry was sick from the heat and taking a nap.  I felt so bad for her and wanted her to win.  I let her have my only nausea pill in hopes that she would get back out on the bike. She waited until the sun went down to come back out.  I was loving the heat!  I was ready to go all night long.  It was getting a little chilly for me but it was not too bad.  I had another long break waiting for Tommy to my lights on my bike and helmet.  If I was really serious about the race I would have had a second helmet and bike ready to go but this was a race for fun. 

Night time came and the stars were out. I love riding at night. It is like a new trail and everything looks different. My NiteRider lights were really bright and I could see really well. The only thing that I could not see was sand. This is something I avoid in mountain biking. Sand is something that is hard to ride in and what ended my race.  I was having a ball and was on my favorite down hill bouncy section flying and then I hit some sand that turned my front handle bars……next thing I know I was on the ground and felt like I had broke my left femur bone. I guess my bike hit my leg pretty hard.  I felt to make sure that it was ok and when I could tell that it was not broken I got up and hopped back on the bike.  It was really more painful to ride then put weight on it. I was not out of the race yet as far as I knew. About a quarter mile later I  then I hit another beach like area that was on a flat part and went down the same way.  My bike hit my leg again and I was laying flat on my back in pain. I decided to just lay there for a while. The sky was clear and you could see all the stars.  It was really pretty and that is when I decided to quit. I knew that if I kept going I would keep crashing and Badwater is what is most important to me.  I also know that my leg was not going to let me continue. Ouch it hurt!

I dropped out and let the race director know.  I also stopped by the med tent and got  to them check it out.  I think I just squashed my quad muscles like a grape.  I took a shower and then hung out until about 3 am at the NiteRider trailer driving the guys nuts.  They fed me some hotdogs and I used the ziplock bag from the wienies for my ice.  I hobbled over to my car to try to get some sleep. I did not have pillow or blanket so it was not a sound sleep.  I was wired and really wanting to ride. My spirits were up beat even with the DNF.  If I had continued racing I would not have had all the great conversations I had. I love the people that put on the race.  They are so nice and make me feel so great!  I bet I come back next year when I do not have to worry about Badwater or the 508.  I have yet to ride a 24 hour mountain bike race solid through the night.  Mountain biking is so hard and my respect for the sport grows with each race.  Terry ended up riding strong all night long and got second.  The single speed girl got first.  It was a great race despite all that went wrong with me.  I told them I will be back and I bet I will.   I get my mind set to finish something and I do it …it just might take a few times. This mountain biking is hard on the body so I wont be racing mountain bike races for the rest of the season. The medical bills are a factor.