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12 hours of Temecula |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Andy Law
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Monday, 03 December 2007 |
12 hours of Temecula
Vail Lake Resort
Temecula, CA
November 13th, 2007
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Looking to get a jump-start back into racing after the birth of my first child, I decided to race the 12 hours of Temecula CA. Originally we planned on racing a 3-man team but found ourselves down one man. Mark (Tex) and I decided to up the ante by racing single speeds (always smart for someone who has put on sympathy weight and little saddle time). We both arrived the night before, Mark was first on site and set up our sweet site and got dinner ready.
We awoke the next morning early with a morning start time of 9:00 a.m. We slammed some food and warmed up (if by warming up you mean hiding in my car with the heater on and stealing our neighbors campsite table).
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We decided Mark would lead us off, mainly because rock always beats scissors. He was mid pack in the parade lap and then was in good position through his lap. While I waited I pondered all things I learned from having a new baby and how they may help, I now know what tired is, I am an expert with bottles and there is not much difference between diaper cream and chammy butter.
The course was billed as about 10 miles but I had 12 each lap and most was uphill. It was a climber's dream and a downhill nightmare. The trails passed each other several times on the way up the first climb to what was called the summit. After over looking Vail Lake you had a quick bomb down to fire road around the lake.
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The 2nd climb began and half way through this climb came a Hike-a-Bike called "burning calves." Once you hike up the 400 yard loose sand trail it is a quick remount and you then continue to the largest climb of the lap. Once you have reached the top of this beast, a fast fire road descent back into the valley for some short steep climbs on the way back home. The only thing missing on this race was…shade, the sun was beating down with little to no spots to hide.
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Mark and I both completed 3 laps each and finished in second with 6 laps to a team that did 8 After my night lap I made it back to camp cracked open a frosty top and began to pack thinking if I got home in time I may get some sleep before my 2 a.m. baby feeding time. Mark stayed another night and picked up our awards we also finished in the top 5 for their 3-race winter serious. All in all it was a blast to be back on the bike and I thank Mark for stepping up and racing with me
Andy Law
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