24 Hours of Adrenalin MTB Race Report

This was my third year racing the 24 Hours of Adrenalin MTB race at Laguna Seca, CA. The first year was my first bike race in 14 years and first MTB race. I was part of one five-man 24 hour team sponsored by Bad Boys Bail Bonds. Last year I raced the 8-hour race as part of a 2-man team we called Bad Boys Bail Bonds Deux. Unfortunately, I crashed during the 8th hour and had to be hauled out by paramedics and my teammate Greg and I dropped from 2nd to 4th place. This year Greg and I teamed back up to do the 8-hour two-man race against 23 other teams and called ourselves Deux Redux.

This was my third year racing the 24 Hours of Adrenalin MTB race at Laguna Seca, CA. The first year was my first bike race in 14 years and first MTB race. I was part of one five-man 24 hour team sponsored by Bad Boys Bail Bonds. Last year I raced the 8-hour race as part of a 2-man team we called Bad Boys Bail Bonds Deux. Unfortunately, I crashed during the 8th hour and had to be hauled out by paramedics and my teammate Greg and I dropped from 2nd to 4th place. This year Greg and I teamed back up to do the 8-hour two-man race against 23 other teams and called ourselves Deux Redux.

The race has a Lemans start with a short 500 yard run. Racers jump on their bikes, ride a few hundred yards and then dismount and carry their bikes up the stairs of a bridge that crosses over the racetrack (there was a car race going on simultaneously). The course is a 10-mile loop and consists of a lot of single track over rolling hills, some steep, short climbs, and a fire road climb between miles 7 and 9.5. Most of the course is smooth and hard packed, although this year there were many soft, sandy turns as well. For some reason, the steep, loose, bumpy descent that sent me to the emergency room last year was removed from the course, although it was only introduced last year.

I rode first and started the run in about 50th position out of a total of 160 and moved up to about 25th when I got to my bike. Unfortunately, the Lemans run was too short to really string us out and we were still congested when we got to the bridge. As I was dismounting to carry my bike up the stairs a rider came up along side me and knocked me down to the asphalt where I banged my left kneecap. I got up and went to pick up my bike, but it wouldn't come as some tape defining a chute to the bridge wrapped around my handlebars. After untangling my bike and feeling my knee ache as I climbed the stairs I wondered if I'd later get to say "hello" to the paramedics I met last year! I was now in about 50th position again.

After crossing the bridge we go up a relatively hard and wide 100-yard climb followed by a very narrow and steep descending hairpin followed by several miles of single track in the rolling hills. I worked hard up the climb to about 35th and then worked hard on all the climbs looking for places where I could pass. My strategy was to push the climbs hard and ride the descents fast, but not to push them. After the first few miles of rolling single track I was in about 25th. At mile four we go up a wide, rutted, and very steep 100 yard climb called Hurl Hill which allowed me to move up to about 15th to 20th. We then go down some very fast and loose fire road, which the paramedics know quite well, and then head into the trees for a few miles of winding and sometimes loose single track. I ended up catching my front wheel in some soft sand and falling on my left arm, but didn't loose any positions. Fortunately, that was my last crash of the day. I made it to the 2.5 mile grind in relatively good shape and was able to move up to 9th position and finish the first lap in 48 minutes with a 2 minute lead in the 8-hour 2-man race.

I only had about 40 minutes to get to our car, drink, mix more Perpetuem, lube my chain, stretch and get back to the start. Conditions were overcast, windy and cool. One advantage to not having our old sponsor was I could wear my BSV kit all day and decided to wear my long sleeve fleece lined jersey for laps two on as it was getting quite windy and cold. I must have gotten 30 comments from other racers telling me how they loved my BSV long sleeve jersey. Because it was so cool I only carried 5 ounces of cytomax in a gel bottle in my back pocket.

My teammate Greg came through with a 49 minute lap and we were in the lead by three minutes. My 2nd lap was another 48 mins to give us an 8 minute lead. Greg did a 50 minute 2nd lap for a 9 min lead and I did a 50 min 3rd lap for a 16 min lead. Greg's 3rd and fourth laps were 52 and 55 minutes and unfortunately, he snapped his saddle rail on lap four and had to ride lop sided when in the saddle. My 4th and 5th laps were 52 and 54 minutes and consisted mostly of cramp management and remembering that I blew the race in the last lap last year with a crash. The most interesting part was probably trying to bunny hop a 6 foot rattle snake on a moderate uphill single track on my fourth lap… good for him I got the 4 inches of air I needed to clear him! I finished my 5th lap with 48 minutes left (last lap had to finish by 8 and a half hours) and Greg didn't want to give another lap a try. Of the 24 teams 6 finished with 9 laps like us and we ended up with a 21 minute lead. Greg and I each won a pair of Kenda Small Block 8s, medals and free registration for a 24 Hrs of Adrenalin race.

Charles