Knickerbocker 8hr XC and Season Finale

Here comes another race update. Right, so I got back from the disappointing finish at the National Championships with a lot of fight still in me. The last race of the season and last race of the Leave No Trace Endurance Series was the Knickebocker 8hr XC race on October 16th. After Moab I knew that I left that race with “plenty” of fuel in the tank. I was originally reg'd up in the Pro/Exp SS Solo division. I noticed the field of racers in that division was a bit small. Consequently, I moved to the Pro/Exp Solo division (the difference being theses guys have gears on their bikes). I scrambled to get my Cannondale 29er SS converted to a 1 X 9. That means I would have one chainring up front (34 tooth) and a full 9-speed cassette in the back. So on the Tuesday before the race my bike was ready for the dirt. I put in a three hour ride on Wednesday and another two ride on Thursday. The bike was shifting great so I took Friday off of the bike.

So I show up at the race (Saturday) at around 7:20. I felt relaxed yet was ready to throw down the gauntlet. Now the plan for this race was three fold. First, I was sitting in first place for the overall series with a 40 mile lead. All I really had to do was ride my bike for about 5 laps and that would have secured my overall victory. The second thing was that I wanted to have fun. When and if the fun meter dropped then I would chill and just finish the necessary laps for the overall. Finally, the last order of business was to win the race. The field of racers was deep with talent and it was going to be a tall order. However, I was coming into this race with a bit of fitness.

Back to the race. With my goals in place I lined up right in front ready for the “gun to go off”. I had ridden this course a number of times but never in this direction. We took off at a blistering pace but that was my plan. Start off fast and go until I couldn't go any longer. The selection was made right away and I found myself riding along side a Nationally ranked CX Champion named Cody Kaiser. He's a young lad with some series talent. Anyway, he was racing on a two-person team so he wasn't a threat to me other than forcing me to go faster than I had hoped. Anyway, this elite group of four quickly gaped the field and we were out putting time in the bank. I finished the first lap strong and didn't slow down to pit and just kept turning it over. I rode alone for the remainder of the race.

I didn't have pit support which is not a big deal in the 8hr races. The only time it becomes a potential issue is if you have a mechanical or run out of water or something and the race is close. In my case I knew the race was close as I saw the 2nd place racer behind me two times on the course. I had four Camelbaks loaded and ready in the ice chest. I had food staged on the back of my pickup, so I was set. My pit times were less than 30 seconds. I was keeping fueled with water, electrolytes, and calories. However, during the second lap I needed to pee, darn that pre-hydration. I had to go but didn't want to give up the time. I kept turning it over hoping my body would assimilate the fluid in my bladder. Midway through lap three I was still dealing with the strong urge to go. Finally, at the halfway point on lap four, I did something that I had never done before. I saw that I was alone on the course so I peed while descending a short paved section. I was successful in not peeing all over myself and felt like I had dogged a bullet. Feeling relieved, I pedaled on in earnest.

Goal number one, “win the overall series”. I had put in 5 laps which sealed the deal there. Goal number two, “have fun”. I was having a blast racing my bike in beautiful Cool CA. And lastly, “win the race”. I was in the lead with no sight of the second place racer. Mission almost accomplished. I found myself starting to do the math figuring out how many more laps I needed to go. Now Jim Northey puts together the best events. His 8 hour races are in fact 8 hours. You've got to have your last lap completed within the 8hr time frame. Some promoters allow for another hour for racers to complete their final laps. The same is true with his 24 hour events. In any case, I was sitting at two laps to go and finishing my final lap sometime after 4pm. It was going to be close for me to potentially go out on a 9th and final lap. Lap 7 was tough it felt like I had the trailer with my son attached. The affects of riding so hard for so long started to take its toll on me. The “math” showed I had one more to go. I head under the start/finish, toss Northey a hammer gel wrapper and blast through with no pit. Now at least for me, while in an endurance event (8hr or 24hr race) the last lap is awesome. I mentally checked off each section of the course bidding it a farewell. I dug deep into my suitcase of courage to fight through the physical pain. I figured Carl Sanders (the 2nd place chaser) was hot on my heels. At the halfway point I knew that race was mine to either win or lose. As I crested the final little hit I could see the finish. At that moment I knew that my three goals had been successfully accomplished and it felt GREAT. I finished at 4:08 which gave me the chance of heading out on lap 9 with 52 minutes. My last three laps were in the high 50's so I sat up and waited for Carl. He came in four minutes latter and he too had not intention of going out on another lap. The race was over, I won!

This season has been a especially long and difficult. Last season was a banner season for me and after securing a spot on the Global Biorhythm Events Team, I had some lofty goals for 2010. I wanted to shoot for a top three in the Leave No Trace Endurance Series. The series included two 24hr solo events, one 100 mile mountain bike race, and an 8hr XC race in Cool. In addition, I wanted to race the National Championships in Moab Utah and place top three. The first two solo 24's I won, I got 2nd place at the Tahoe Sierra 100 (missed 1st by two minutes), and I won the 8hr XC series finale. Moab was a learning experience and finished 6th.

I feel completely blessed by God to have had such amazing success. The list of people to thank is long an exhaustive....

Angie, Leif, Laini, Carolyn, John Harrison, Donna Sutton, Mike Sutton, Jim Northey, Mike and Carrie Self, Keith Flood, Kurt Pickle, Robert Raubach, Brian from Draper UT, Jason and Monica from Moab UT, Jared Franzoia, Sean McDevitt, Breakaway Bikes, Auburn Bike Works, Team GBE, E1 & T1 B-shift, AY UP Lights, Light and Motion, Rudy Project, Camelbak, and many more.

I hope you enjoyed following me this season.

Mike