24 Hours of E-Rock

Yesterday I raced 24 hours of E-Rock and here is just a glimpse of what goes on in a race like this.

First I needed to find a teammate. I had raced last year as a Solo and I knew I didn't want to do that again, at least not yet, the memories were still too fresh in my mind on how difficult that was on my body. I have a girlfriend who I am training with for triathlons and I figured she would be perfect for this, however, she thought her husband would be much better. Tom was training for his first Leadville 100 mile mountain bike race and so I told him this would be perfect for getting in those long base miles. He agreed and our "2-3 person" team was set.

My teammate Tom Kammerer

The race was south of Denver about 20 minutes in an open space park. The loop was a relatively easy 8.5 miles of double track road with 500 feet of climbing per lap. Each lap would take us approximately :40 min. give or take :05 min. depending on the conditions and how we were feeling. Most people choose to race on a mountain bike but we did see a few cyclocross bikes out there and one tandem this year. The goal is to see how many laps your team can do in a 24 hour period, switching off riders thru out the day and night. The key was to figure out at what interval to switch off.

The race started at 6:30pm and finished at 6:30pm the following night. Tom and I discussed our strategy and decided that we would each start out by riding one lap to check out the course in the daylight, and then we would follow with 2 laps each and then ride 2 rounds of 3 laps. By riding 3 laps in a row it would give us each about a 2 hour break to try and get some sleep. Once we were back into daylight again we would then assess how we were feeling and decide the rest from there.

Our camp sight right on the course.

We showed up at the Venue in plenty of time to make camp, have time to relax and take a quick nap. Racing one of these seems to require a lot of gear. From the tent, sleeping bag, cooler with food and drink, chairs, an "E-Z up canopy", clothes...and then more clothes! Since the weather can be so unpredictable here in Colorado it's nice to be prepared for anything; rain, snow, wind, sun or combination of all. My husband Andy was racing Solo and so between the 3 of us we had a nice little camping spot right on the race course. Between Tom and I we could support Andy when he would come in for his breaks and encourage him to keep going when he felt like he couldn't do another lap.

The start of the 24 hours of E-Rock, they run about 100 meters before getting on the bike.

6:30pm
Race Start. I asked Tom to ride the first lap, I felt that he should experience the mass start of riders, 72 in all. This would give him an extra lap in the daylight to check out the course before we donned the headlights for the evening. Since I rode it 25 times in a row last year I felt I already knew the course more than I would like...sure enough, it hadn't changed at all this year.

Andy and Tom rolling in on one of their laps together.

7:40pm.
My first lap went very well. Since we were camped on the course, and just before the timing tent, transitions were very easy. Tom would roll up to camp and I would take off. We each had a card, similar to a credit card, that we would swipe at the start of each lap. Andy and Tom came in after the first lap together so when I started my lap I was right behind Andy so we rode the first lap together. There was a pretty good headwind the first 3 miles and it was nice to draft off of each other. I don't know who was setting the pace but it will probably be my fastest lap!

The course begins with a slight uphill until about 3.5 miles, takes a sharp turn and climbs moderately for another mile. At the top of this first big climb the next mile has a few fun rollers, some tight turns followed by one last short climb. The final 3.5 miles is a raging downhill where my speeds were in the 25-30mph range....so much fun! The views on this course are just amazing. With all the rain this area has been getting everything was so green, the wildflowers were in bloom and then to see the snow covered mountain of "Pikes Peak" out over the horizon was just beautiful.

The last section of the race course with Pikes Peak in the background.

8:50pm
The start of my two laps in a row, roughly an hour and a half. There is still a little light from the setting sun so I get a chance to survey the course one last time before nightfall. I take off with a headlamp on my helmet and lights on the handlebars. I am told by officials to turn them on even though I can see the trails just fine. I will keep the bar lights on the entire time and use the helmet lamp as a back-up or to read my splits from my watch. My computer for some reason has decided not to work tonight of all nights. It is still warm out so there is no need for a jacket or knee warmers yet. I enjoy the lightening show to the north, the clouds are rolling out and the moon is rising, it should be a clear night.

I roll back into camp about 10:00pm, take off my shoes (my feet swell when riding long) and I grab some food. I have packed a cooler with sandwiches, brown rice, pasta with chicken and veggies, fruit, crackers, chips and a small selection of bars and gels. I try to keep it simple yet give myself a variety of foods to choose from as I never know what I will be craving after each lap. I will make it a habit to eat a little something before and after each ride if I am doing consecutive laps. If I only do one lap I will eat just after I finish. I need real food for these long events but I know some people that will only have gels, drink and bars the entire time. After eating I hit the tent to try and sleep for about an hour.

2:20am
I have just finished my first set of 3 consecutive laps and recording :43 min. for each. The ride was great but it's just a little slower than I had anticipated, especially since there wasn't much wind to deal with. I had left at 12:20am and was bummed that I was only able to get in about 45 min. of restless sleep before the start of this ride. It was a little chilly just hanging out at camp so I started with a jacket that had removable sleeves knowing I would remove them after I had warmed up a bit. After riding for about :20 min. the sleeves were off and I was quite comfortable in just my vest, arm warmers and knee warmers. My feet tend to get quite cold so I had placed ziplock bags in my shoes and wore toe covers over. This usually does the trick unless it's really cold out. I also opted for a camelbak with water for this longer ride. I find I drink more when wearing it and I didn't want to stop at camp to switch out water bottles.
Anyway, I ate, put on a fresh set of cycling clothes for my next go around, set my alarm and slept for just about an hour....wishing it was more.

6:30am.
My 2nd go around of 3 laps is completed. This has got to be the coldest part of the 24 hours, just before sun-up. I am not sure how cold it was, probably in the mid 40's but for me it might as well have been 30. I was out of the tent at 4:ooam, had a quick bite of pasta, a banana with almond butter and I was on the bike @ 4:20. I was wearing 2 pairs of knickers along with a long sleeved jersey and a jacket. I started with the camelbak again but decided to dropped it after 1 lap. I just didn't feel I needed or wanted it on.
What a beautiful sky as I watch the moon set and the sun rise during the course of my 2nd lap, so cool...After my 2nd lap I dropped off my lights as the sun was now up, I switch out my helmet (I had a spare that didn't have a light mounted on it), traded my clear lens glasses for the sunglasses and I tried not to think about how unbearably cold my feet were. I had on wool socks, toe booties, baggies in the shoes and little hand warmers shoved up under the toe covers....but nothing seemed to work. With only one lap to go all I could think about was curling up in my sleeping bag and hoping that my toes would thaw out for my next go around.



8:10am
My feet are still cold starting off on this set of 2 laps, however, it is warming up quickly so I it doesn't take long for the feeling to come back into my toes. I am down to one set of knickers and my arm warmers but no vest. My lap times are pretty good, the wind was barely noticeable which makes it so much easier. I arrive back at camp the same time as Andy. I get some food in me first and then help him get food, make up some drink mix for his bottles and anything else that he needs. He is doing good, he's having some great lap times but also feeling the little aches and pains that come with riding almost non-stop for 24 hours. He says he now has a new appreciation for what I went thru last year on my Solo adventure here, I am so glad he gets to experience it this year!

11:00am
The wind is really picking up out on the course. Andy just came in and said his wheels fell off, and then proceeded to say that he couldn't get the wheels on his bike to turn. I totally freaked thinking that he had crashed, but looking over at his bike it looked perfectly fine to me. He said he didn't crash but I must say, he wasn't looking too good. I wanted to stay and help him out but Tom came in for the exchange and I had to take off. It wasn't until the middle of my ride that I realized that it was Andy who's wheels had fallen off not his bike! It's amazing how you can feel on top of the world one minute and then it all falls to pieces the next.

Tom and I had decided to do just single laps now for the rest of the race. I am so happy with this decision due to the wind, having to do 2 or 3 laps in a row would only slow us down even more, mentally and physically. This headwind is brutal, my times have dropped by over 5 min. and I seem to be loosing it all in the first 3 miles of the course.

During this lap I quickly caught up to a solo female rider who didn't look like she was having much fun. I said hello as I passed her, I pulled in front of her so she could get a nice draft as long as she rode close behind me. No words were needed as I pulled her for a little over a mile thru the windiest part of the course. I continued to look back to make sure she was still with me. I could have ridden away from her but somehow I knew what she was going thru. When we arrived at the climb and out of the headwind, she thanked me and I continued on with my regular pace. It's such a mental game when riding in these conditions, I guess that is what makes us all just a little stronger. Putting it all in perspective, we may have some wicked winds but at least the sun is out, it is warm and beautiful and I have the ability to ride.....

12:30pm
I am back from another windy single lap ride and once again, thankful I am doing single laps right now. I grab a bar and head over to where they have the standings for the race. I look up our team name and we are in 2nd place, barely. First place is a team of 3 and they are a few laps ahead of us so I don't have to worry about catching them, however, 3rd place is just one lap behind us. I start doing the math in my head, if we maintain :45 min. lap we could squeeze in 6 more laps, possibly 7 if the wind died down and we could ride just a little faster. There is no time for slacking or naps, we have to make sure we can get in as many laps as possible over the next 6 hours.

2:00pm
My legs are really starting to feel the effects of so much riding....they are trashed. I know they could cramp at any given moment if I push them to hard. I have been here before and I know if I can just spin it out, back off the pace and drink a little more I should be okay. I have been taking electrolytes consistently since this morning so that should be helping me. As I ride I think to myself that I should be doing a little stretching after each lap. Sounds good in theory but sure enough, I get into camp, take my shoes off, eat and lay down...I have run out of energy or is that motivation to stretch. My eyes are burning and all I can think about is sleep. I have decided that I need to stop laying down after my laps as it is making it harder for me to get up for my next ride.

3:30pm
Wow, I had one of my fastest laps! Okay, the guys had opened a Red Bull and said how much just half of one was helping them get thru their laps so I figured I would give it a try. Mind you, I haven't had caffeine in over 4 years so it was going to be interesting to see what happens. Well, between the Red Bull and the fact there was little to no wind I rode a 35 min. lap, 10 min. faster than the previous lap. There were also a few guys that I rode with and that seemed to push me a little more than I would if I were riding alone. I have one more lap to go for sure but we have time for 3. I will have to flip with Tom to see who is going to do that final lap. We both will have had 17 laps completed so whoever does the last lap rides 8.5 miles more than the other.

I saw Andy again and he had a big smile on his face. Apparently he recovers quite well. He said by sitting down and actually resting and getting in lots of real food he started to feel better. He was also riding some fast lap times again. It's good to know that if you are feeling bad it's just a matter of time before you feel good again. However, if you are feeling good, it's just a matter of time before you feel bad....

5:55pm
My next lap was good but not as fast as previous. There was no one out on the course, or at least not around me, it was so weird. One lap I would be surrounded by riders the next lap it seemed like I had the trails all to myself. The wind came back but I just put my head down, got into a groove and tried to ride steady. I rolled into camp for the hand off and I had a quick chat with Tom on who would ride the final lap. I think we were both wanting to be done riding but we knew we had to get in that final lap if we wanted to secure our 2nd place finish. Tom didn't look to psyched to get back on the bike so I happily volunteered to do the last lap. I would just take it easy and enjoy the evening...I told him not to expect any stellar times. It was 5:15pm, I briefly thought to myself that if I rode really fast, like 36 min. laps, I might be able to squeeze in even one more lap before that 6:30 cut off. With the wind picking up I just didn't have it in me to go sprinting the last laps in hopes of getting in by the 6:30pm. If I missed the cutoff even by a second, that last lap wouldn't count. I didn't want to chance it so I just enjoyed that last lap and wondered what it would be like next year. Would I do it solo, on a two person team or maybe, just maybe, go the fun route and enter a 4 person team. I think about what it would be like to actually sleep between laps?

our campsite to the right of the trail, the timing tent is to the left.

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