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Bike(wo)men Rule 24 hours |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Mary Longhofer
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Sunday, 13 August 2006 |
11th Annual 24 Hours of Great Glen
Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center
Pinkham Notch, NH
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Greetings from the world of 24 hour racing! This past weekend four ladies from the team competed at the 24 hours of Great Glenn in Pinkham Notch, NH. Our team consisted of myself, Emmy Monahan, Alyssa Gagnon, and Olivia Goldfine. We all rolled in at varying times on Friday to set up "base camp" for the weekend. It was windy and cold that night with temperatures dipping down into the low 40's. I woke up during the night in my toasty sleeping bag thinking about how much the next night was going to hurt getting OUT of my toasty sleeping bag in the wee hour of the night to go ride my bike. Such is one of the many challenges of 24 hour racing.
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We had quite the campsite which really made the weekend comfortable. We had the team Easy Up, the Easy Up from my work place - Orthopaedic Associates, a camp stove, a portable grill, an Ipod w/ docking station, cribbage set, the huge team bike rack that holds 10 bikes, the team repair stand, and plenty of food. We had the set up!!
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Race day (Saturday) dawned with intermittent sun and clouds and a bit less wind and no rain which was what we were all hoping for. We discussed our race strategy that morning and decided on the lap format as follows: 1-2, 1-2, 3-4, 3-4 and repeating, vs. going through the line up 1-2-3-4. By doing it that way, it would allow for greater rest at key times (such as during the night). It would also allow us to get two laps in with a bit of rest between (50 min. or so) thereby allowing us to stay in our gear and to also grab a bit of nutrition between laps. After finishing the two laps, we would get 4-4 1/2 hours between the next round of riding. We were all really happy with this format and would recommend it to anyone doing a 4 person team in the future.
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So, the cannon went off at high noon and I started the race by running the 1/3 mile or so around the pond for the Le Mans start. I hopped on my bike and road as hard as I could, reminding myself along the way that there would be a lot of laps ahead of me and to hold back just a bit, to finish with a 53 minute lap. The race loop was about 8.5 miles of a combination of a lot of carriage roads mixed in with single track that dipped in and out of the woods.  | | click to enlarge |
The climbing was spread out, and not that difficult. The carriage roads allowed for some fast riding and recovery between climbing and single track sections. The trail was also very dry overall although the single track became very slick and muddy at night and was quite tricky in spots. There was only one sketchy down hill section toward the end where you had to tightly get around a tree at the top of a tricky single track climb, then plunge down this slick, muddy section and transverse across the hill back into the woods toward the final switch back section of the race course.  | | click to enlarge |
I cleaned the climb and the plunge no problem on laps 1 and 2, but on lap 3 when it was getting dark, some kids in the woods that I couldn't see let out a scream just as I was hitting the plunge and it startled me for just long enough that I totally stacked it into a tree and went down hard. OUCH! After that lap I sat down and immediately felt my ribs snap, which I think reduced them back into place - more broken ribs for me this year....bummer.
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Anyway, we all raced consistently turning in lap times varying from 52 minutes to just over an hour (at night). We each did 2 full night lights and overall had no issues at night. I did 7 laps and everyone else did 6 for a total of 25 laps in 24 hours. We were the fastest women's team and came in 22nd overall out of 131 teams that started. We all worked really well together and I think I can speak for all of us by saying that we had a blast this weekend!! For me, it was a very exhilarating and exhausting weekend all rolled into one.
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I want to mention a big kudos to Olivia Goldfine for really stepping up to the plate this weekend. Not only did she take on racing on an Expert team as a Sport racer, she also experienced night riding for the first time under race conditions and was racing on a borrowed bike - a Carver demo bike. She gave rave reviews of the Carver and said it was awesome bike to ride! Thanks to shop owner, Davis Carver, for allowing us to have that bike in our arsenal this weekend.
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We had NO mechanicals which we can attribute to the awesome wrenching ability of teammate Anders Larson. He was a dream. The minute we would roll in from a lap, he would take our bike out of our possession and give it the once over, tweaking any issues we might have been having. He was a trooper, also sleeping right next to the bike stand at night to be at the ready to assist after those really tough night laps.
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I also want to thank Anders' and Alyssa's daughter, Linnea, for her assistance. She dolled out some amazing back rubs to keep my weary back going and was also out on the course at all hours getting some awesome photos. She was a really fun addition to our team.
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In terms of my bike and gear, the choice to race my Salsa Moto Rapido was perfect. The bike climbs like a dream and is just so responsive in single track. Each time I ride that bike, I think about how much I love riding it. My Panaracer XC Fire Pro tires hooked up great in all the trail conditions. I felt really confident on them. I also couldn't have been thankful enough for the PopLoc lock out on my Rock Shox SID fork. I locked it out on every single carriage road section (a lot) and felt it really helped me gain/maintain speed by having all of my power go to my pedals and not to unwanted movement of the shock. Greyhound Juice also helped to warm up and protect my legs during those initial windy laps. My SRAM shifting ran next to flawless and my Avid mechanical disc brakes were right on in those wet, muddy and slick sections. My NiteRider lighting system (helmet and handle bar lights) also lit up the trail perfectly for me.
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It was a successful weekend for Team Bikeman.com. This is a great event and I would recommend it to anyone interested in doing a quality 24 hour event. We had a great representation from Maine which was nice to see with a couple of other teams being present - Rage on Portland and Team Crum. Now it's back to the reality of the real world of work and gearing up for the next race at Sugarloaf this Sunday.  | | click to enlarge |
This will be stop #5 in the Maine Mountain Bike Points Series. This race is a very popular stop in the series with a really fun course, but ohhhhh that climb. It is dreaded by all but the huge pay off is the amazing single track that follows. I am really hoping for the support of my former team, Team 6 Pack, again. Last year they were positioned perfectly in the first knarly down hill section off the climb with a boom box, lawn chairs, and cooler of COLD refreshing beverages. Boy, didn't one of those beverages taste good on my 3rd lap last year and lift the spirit a bit.
Until next time, ride on and ride safe.
Mary
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