24 Hours of Moab

[TreeHugger]

Moab was awesome! Two words: windy and cold. We arrived Friday with something like 20-30 mile an hour winds kicking sand up and blowing it around everywhere. This did not let up until the wee hours on Sunday morning! And of course, it was cold. 30ish at night. So, how was it all? Well....

We arrive on Friday in a number of cars forming a little village of our own in the desert fields. This was actually the way it was all around, villages of teams setting up for the event, settling in and trying to tolerate the sand blowing all around. Saturday morning came and after loading up on carbs, proteins and coffee we began our preparations for the 24 hours ahead.

A quick rider meeting at 10:30 and finally the start. Tammy started for our team. They do a sprint start with everyone running down the field, around a pinyon pine tree and back, I suppose to spread people out. Off they went kicking up a good dusting in their wake. Tammy is a super strong rider and finished her first lap in 1:42. Camine took off next, then me, then Libba. We were all under 2 hours our first lap, all is well.

Then the night time came, the cold set in and questions of how to dress runs through out heads. Will our lights last? Will I get a flat in the dark? Are there mountain lions in the desert? (haha). I love riding at night. Peaceful, quiet, a little creepy at times... I had issues with what I was wearing and found myself over dressed for the long climb in the beginning, which made me very cold for the rest of the lap due to being sweaty, but I made it. I lost some time stopping and adjusting my clothing along the way. We all finished in about 2.5 hours at night, except for Tam who did 1:52 - and get this - with a regular back up LED camping headlamp - her other light died ONE MILE into her lap! She's a rock star!

ON my third lap, I was doing really well, time wise, then coming down one gnarly stretch of trail, a steep, rocky, loose descent, this guy passed me, totally out of control and crashed, HARD, right in front of me. Well, of course, I stopped and stayed with him til the EMTs got there. He was pretty messed up. Finally, I'm on my way. With adjusted time I finished my last lap in about 2 hours, same with Libba. Camine, had to bail on her third lap due to a knee injury.

Well, it was a great experience all in all, I had the best team you could ever imagine and a lot of fun. My husband and his teammate, (duo pro) came in 8th out of 18th (on single speeds) so they were pleased with their result, too.

[Joe Gardner]

What an accomplishment! All 4 of you look exhausted.

Your husband is a freak! Single speed? Ouch!

[accadacca]

That is awesome. I bet you guys are glad that you did it.

[theking648]

I've been waiting for this TR all day... congratuations for even trying it. i would love to try to get a team together in a few years and try it out.

crazy awesome photos.

and Your husband doing single speed!!! THAT IS CRAZY!

[Heather]

Wow! Congrats to you all! :)

[Sombeech]

Awesome!

Had to feature this one. http://www.bogley.com/?p=894

[devo_stevo]

Congrats on the performance! I actually saw you go by on your first lap starting up the first climb after the singletrack. I was warming up and rode down to that point and you went by headed up the slickrock.

It was a pretty cool race this year. It was a lot colder at night this time around, but once you got out there you warmed right up. We didn't place very well, but had a great time and I rode the two technical spots that have always gotten me in the past. I'm still not riding nose dive hill though.

[Last Child]

Congrats and thanks for the report. Kudos for hanging with the injured.

[TreeHugger]

StevoDevo! That is so funny that you recognized me!! You should've hollered! Congrats to you on a strong race as well! Unless you're a Pro it's all about the ride, not the place. :-)

Joe and Heather - welcome back! Are you finished with your epic ride? Is a report posted here somewhere?

And thanks a lot everyone! It was a great experience and even fun, in a brutal sort of way! haha! I think that guy I was with may have fractured his hip, he said it didnt feel like it was in the "right spot" and he couldnt move his leg at all. Good thing I had just finished a Wilderness First Aid course! :-) haha.

[devo_stevo]

StevoDevo! That is so funny that you recognized me!! You should've hollered! Congrats to you on a strong race as well! Unless you're a Pro it's all about the ride, not the place. :-)

Joe and Heather - welcome back! Are you finished with your epic ride? Is a report posted here somewhere?

And thanks a lot everyone! It was a great experience and even fun, in a brutal sort of way! haha! I think that guy I was with may have fractured his hip, he said it didnt feel like it was in the "right spot" and he couldnt move his leg at all. Good thing I had just finished a Wilderness First Aid course! :-) haha.

I would have yelled but by the time I put two and two together that it may have been you, you were already a ways up there. It was that beautiful bike that gave you away.

I'm glad you had a good time. It's always one of those races that I wonder why I'm there at 3:00 in the morning doing this to myself, but by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around, I'm planning the return trip for next year with my team mates.

BTW good job taking care of an injured rider. There are a lot of places on that course that could jack you up pretty bad. Hope he's ok.

[moab mark]

Well done, I was in moab and that had to be hell saturday with how hard that wind was blowing. Out there with all that sand are you still getting it out of places you didn't think it could get. GOOD JOB.
I would like to go and sit at high dive and watch them go down in the dark. Does the race go down the nasty jeep part or do they go on the bypass trail?
Mark

[devo_stevo]

It goes down either way. The first couple of times that I did it, they only let you go down the nasty part, but the last couple of years the bypass is available. It's faster to just jump off and walk down the nasty spot though. There are a few that ride it. Some make it look easy and others barely survive. There is a pretty good line down the thing if you don't mind a 3.5 foot drop into the sand at the bottom.

[moab mark]

Yea that ledge at the bottom would get your attention, many serious jeeps have had a bad day there before trying to go up. Do they make you push your bike up upchuck on the other side or do you you go around to the left??

[Teleken]

Congrats on the stellar effort!

[devo_stevo]

Yea that ledge at the bottom would get your attention, many serious jeeps have had a bad day there before trying to go up. Do they make you push your bike up upchuck on the other side or do you you go around to the left??

Some go around upchuck to the left, but most carry their bikes up. There is a crack in the middle of upchuck that has some conveniently placed rocks that make good steps up the thing. That's generally the fastest way to go.

[greyhair biker]

Really wish I could have at least seen the race but congrats to you! You did a very good thing staying there with the injured guy...scored big points in my book
So, are you ALL gonna race next year?

[TreeHugger]

Really wish I could have at least seen the race but congrats to you! You did a very good thing staying there with the injured guy...scored big points in my book
So, are you ALL gonna race next year?

Hard to say... we get into these things on a whim, there may be another adventure to train for instead, we'll see. Besides, it's kinda a love/hate relationship with that trail, I've done it twice now, not sure if I'll do it again.
Thanks for the congrats and the points, :-) , although I'm sure anyone would have done the same thing - well unless they were trying to win fame and fortune, perhaps, of which, neither applied to me! :-)