24hrs of Fury Single Speed Solo

Really, kinda off the couch. After the Speedgoat 50k trail race in Alta, UT, I had a couple tradeshows and 11 days in Vegas and only rode a handful of times before the Barnburner 104 I did on the Marin Cortina SSCX bike. After that I rode a couple "no drop" rides with the Bicycle Vibe riders, a handful of 2 hr trainer sessions watching Europtrip and other funny-ass movies. Two weeks ago I rode about 4 hours of BCT (blackcanyontrail.com) with Mike Melley (24hrs of Old Pueblo SS Solo winner). This was the first time in several months that I rode the Marin Team Ti as a singlespeed. You see that's the beauty of the Team Ti, you can put gears on it if you want to spin a couple sessions of singletrack. Then I pre rode the course doing about four laps some of which I walked sections I thought may be challenging and slow me down at night. I wanted to aver age 1:06 per lap.

I solicited David Claffy from Trailhead Bike Cafe to be my pit man. David is 17 but has a good head on his shoulders and a good wrench.

It had rained the day before the race making the Competitive Loops at McDowell Mtn Park tacky and the temps for the race were about 60 degrees during the day down to about 40 degrees at night. With Tinker leading the charge for the geared solo field, I traded spots with 3rd and 4th through the evening.

The only real failure I had was staying down too long. I jumped in the back of the VW wagon about 9pm for no other reason besides I just wanted to stop. I had a strong stomach (thanks Infinit Nutrition), good legs (thanks Xtreme Endurance) and good energy. I just wanted to stop. I had planned on staying down for the amount of time to average out my laps to 1:06. I had David calculate on the white board my average laps and how much time I had to spare. I had been turning sub 1hr laps since 10am so I had banked some serious time. Again, David is a great pit man but the only thing he lacks is knowing how to kick a grown man's ass into gear when the time is right. He opened the car door every 20 min or so and gave me reports but I sent him away each time until finally I asked that he come back at 4am, I was out. Since I had no real problems with riding other than lack of motivation, he should have told me to get my ass out there!

I got up on my own at 2:30 and changed into some warm clothes and wrote David a note on the whiteboard, "out at 3:04am". I was just heading on course when I saw Tinker getting a pit and I said "come on, let's do this." I could see by the light behind me that he had started out with me. The light faded then back on me then back for a while. About halfway though, I let him pass and he asked if I was sure and then politely said "thanks".

If you have ever done a 24hr race, solo or other wise, you KNOW that the Glory Lap is the best. When you are riding and sometime during your lap, the sun rises. It is truly amazing how energizing this can be. It warms you up mentally and physically. When I came in during this lighted lap, David had finally gotten up and back to the camp. We spent some time going over the results and where I was standing. I was in 4th but pretty sure the guys I was chasing were out on laps. It's funny how in a 24hr race you can lose it by not paying attention to the racers around you. I went out and rode a couple more laps finishing up at 9:30am before the 10am cut off.

When the final results were posted, I had slipped back to 6th! WTF! As David and I were checking them out, the guy that passed me for 5th by only 2 min 38sec was over my shoulder and told me how he did it. He said I passed him and his buddy on the last lap and since he was on the lookout for me, #18, his buddy told him "that's your guy to beat". They casually passed me and finished just ahead of me.

The take h0me is...race through the night and race each lap like you mean it.

Barn Burner 104mi MTB race on a SingleSpeed Cyclocross bike

So I am going to put to rest all the questions about whether or not a cyclocross bike is a fast situation at the Barn Burner 104 in Flagstaff, AZ.....it's not. But.....I had my Cortina custom painted and rocked some White Industries ENO hubs to convert it to a singlespeed. WTB shot me down a pair of their MTN Drop bars, thanks Mike. And I actually used the Freedom Ryder tire on the rear (zero flats) and a different tire on the front, non WTB(7 flats). I rolled up to Flagstaff the day before the race and visited Cosmic Cycles, a Marin dealer, and then to the camping area. I made some final adjustments and tested out a couple tire options on course before deciding on what I used. As I rode around the campground that evening, I could feel eyes on me and whispers that I was crazy.

The race morning came and I staged the bike at the end of the run as I could run through a crowd faster than pushing my bike through. I had a good start and rolled the first 2 laps (52 miles) without incident. I kept thinking in my head that I was Rock Jedi as I finessed the bike down the tech sections without fail. It wasn't until the 3rd lap that I started getting some flats....like 3 flats. I had enough CO2, 1 tube and many patches. I was close enough on the 3nd flat that I ran the bike in (1/4 mile) to the finish like a true CX racer. The 4th and final lap came and so did the rain. It actually felt good but on the tech sections the rocks began to get slippery. I took it easy but still kept a good pace. The last decent was super fast and knew that my slow leak wouldn't be safe. Knowing that I was going to make the 9hr cutoff for the "big belt buckle" I sill made the decision to stop and fix it to be safe. I ended up having 4 flats on the final lap and had to patch 2 of them ultimately running into the finish again from 1/4 mile out. All in all a 9:14 in a 104mi MTB race on a SSCX bike isn't all that bad. As you can see in the picture, my triceps were as tight as guitar strings. I will race this same set up next year, bring it!

SSAZ 2011

Whew. It has been a couple days of detox from SSAZ. Detox from the sic riding, Tequila–before the race, at the comfort station, at Tequila Tree 35 miles into the race, at night, cheeseballs and pickles at the comfort station, beers, short bus, live music, etc. That kind of sounds like the start of a bad joke ” so a guy goes into a race shooting Tequila and taking slugs off a beer during the neutral roll out…” I digress…I had been in Los Angeles selling Injinji socks and CW-X sports bras all week and finally rolled into my driveway at 9pm Friday night. Ella, my 7 year old, greeted me by jumping into my arms. High fives for the 11 year old, Lucas, and kisses for the old lady, Jodi (I think after 14 years of marriage I can call her my old lady). After spending some well deserved and needed time with the family I went to the shop and put some finial touches on the Marin Team Ti 29er. Ooooh, I forgot to mention that I bent a rim and seized up all my bearings on my I9 race wheels in January on an epic ride http://www.vimeo.com/18347815which I picked up at Gary’s house (Owner of Swiss American Bikes in Glendale, AZ) on hour 7 driving back from LA. Sooo I put the Marin Team Ti together and got the car sorted with sleeping gear, food, etc and went to sleep with a pounding head ache. I set the alarm for 4am and would call an audible as to if I was going to drive down for SSAZ 3 hours away.

The alarm went off and I got up feeling refreshed

and ready to rock. Hit up the Circle K for come cheap black coffee and was rollin to Tucson. When I got there I immediately saw some Durango crew, Chad Cheney, Jon Bailey, Doom and Devon Balet, photographer extrordinair. After some much needed catching up with Devon, I checked in with Dejay. Ya, the one and only, DeJay Birch. The only guy I know that would hand out finisher patches with his likeness embroidered on it! Love that guy! Anyways, I went to check the start list and was told I had a penalty shot coming for not showing up at the Surly Wench the night before and checking in. I pointed out that my name was signed on the sheet, obviously by a friend of mine. I made no bones about it and proudly took my Tequila shot.

The race rolled out as it always has with the passing of a beer through the pack. Last year it was Dales Pale Ale since Chad brought down the Dales RV. This year it was a classic cycling brew, PBR. As I had a Tequila shot and a couple cookies, I only took one pull. Since this was exactly the first time I had ridden this bike, I had some seatpost adjustment issues. In the beginning of the climb up…I mean like 500 yards from the start…my seatpost slipped back jamming up my seat like a 14 year olds BMX park bike. As EVERYONE passed me by the time I got the saddle adjusted, I had some work to do. So with my 32 x 21, I climbed past most of the group reaching Tofer the guy from Philly wearing the golden lycra shorts, fishnet tanktop and a beard that wouldn’t quit. I rolled with these guys for a while till the comfort station…..that’s when things got interesting..

I stopped at the comfort station surrounded by cheeseballs, pickles, Tacate, cookies, and cheeseballs. After gorging on cheeseballs, licking my fingers clean then dipping back into the cheeseballs repeatedly, I realized that I was back in last place again. Devon said he was going to start heading back to the finish and take pictures along the way for Mountain Flyer so I decided to head back with him. We started back and stopped to set up the remote flash and get some test shots. I had a great idea to make an impromptu gilly suit like military snipers use. I started stuffing tall grasses in my jersey and helmet. When I realized that I could not recreate the vision of a sniper I had in my head I asked Devon why he let me do that. We got some good pictures of Tim Allen and Krista Park and a few others. Our idea with the gilly suit was to jump out and scare the crap out of these riders in the middle of nowhere. Be forewarned Colorado racers, Devon is purchasing a gilly suit and scare you on course this season.

The rest of our ride included riding with some great folks, 2 flat tires that needed boots, Milegrosa Falls and the Tequila Tree. When Devon got his flat tire on his Racing Ralphs we couldn’t seal it so we had to take it off and tube it. Simple huh? It took us 50 minutes. First, the tube DeJay gave him was a cyclocross tube. While I was

getting my tube I took my finger off the slice. Found the slice. Got distracted, lost the slice. Found the slice. We got set up just as a couple riders were coming so we rode with them. We got to Tequila Tree. Devon wanted to get some pictures so I volunteered to take a shot. Well he didn’t get the first few photos so I took a couple extra shots. This gave me some serious confidence rolling down Milegrosa Falls. I had sooo much fun on this tech section with the Marin Ti frame. It was so predictable. I think the combin

ation of Ti and the geometry they have on the 29er is money. The ride finished with me slicing my sidewall and using the Big Air to put air in increments till I rolled in on the rim. What a finish. The rest of the night is for another post. Just think a surly wench, live music and a pro mtn bike racer getting escorted out of the bar by his face and hassled by the cops….