Top-10

I showed up at the race with one bike on top of the car - a Huffy (Go Team Huffy!). It was a ploy to psych out the competition...they were so scared that they rode faster so maybe it back-fired. The Huffy is actually Jeremiah's (and it saw some serious use over the weekend).


Scott, from Ride-On-Bikes, my solo support person came in with my equipment later. Scott had told me I was famous on the phone, but I was not sure what that meant until I saw his vehicle that had my name on it...a cool surprise to say the least.


Scott once again proved to be a valuable asset and truly kept me and the bike going. I had to do nothing but ride, drink, and eat...I can not thank him enough for his support, efforts, and friendship.


Scott was up the whole time...well except for one short nap...


Dave Parkins, another ace-mechanic, of Sandpoint was also in attendance at my pit area and he was instrumental in us all having some fun. Plus, he kept many of my competitor's bikes rolling when they had major malfunctions...most people would not think of this as a good thing, but I'm perfectly happy that Dave and Scott had fun keeping other people riding...the nature of this event is to have fun and to help others plus I really like all the competitors I have met...all good people.


My performance in the Spokane 24-hr race turned out a top-10 finish (literally I came in 10th). Even though I took precautions to avoid dehydrating in the heat, it proved once again my biggest downfall. During the first 4-laps I was downing 2 large bottles an hour (a typical maximum for me, but after 4hr-10min, 60-miles) of riding I was feeling the symptoms of dehydration and I had to start taking extended breaks just to let more fluid absorb.


The good news is that I did not puke this year. I'm starting to think that my genetic makeup will not allow me to do this kind of event and/or intensity in hot weather. Once the temps cooled down I was feeling much better, however it took most of the night to catch up on the fluids. At some point around mile-90 I made a decision to ride just for myself instead of for the podium and to simply have some fun while doing it...and fun I did have.


In the end I rode for 14hrs-40min for about 195-miles during this event. The course was not disappointing in providing a thrash test to both body and bike...my butt is sore even with the super cushy ride. The Ellsworth (#21) survived perfectly, but after the race I noticed my bottom bracket is in need of replacing...it has just over 3000-miles of use, which is not bad for an outboard BB on a MTB. I do miss the internal BB's that I typically got an easy 10-15K or more. My Ay-Up lights were awesome all night and I never once found myself needing so slow down due to lack of light - in fact my lap times at night were nearly the same as my lap time in the day.


After the day after the race Donna, Jeremiah and I all went for a sweet ride on parts of the course (Donna on the Ellsworth, Jeremiah on the Super-Huffy, and I was on the Think Pink SS). Riding the SS was all fun and my legs seemed to have plenty of GO still.


The event was fun as usual and more pics (some are probably rated PG-13) can be found at my Picasa Web site.