We went into this year’s race as one of the favorites since we’ve podium’d in the last two tries as a 4 man team. There was another good looking team from NM – Café Giuseppe with some of the regular Pro/Cat 1 podium guys stacking that team (McCalla, Brenneman, Prinzivalli, Searles). Kona didn’t send their ringers (Trebon, Wicks, or Sneddon) for some reason, and neither of the Schultz bro’s (Andy and Sam) showed. Honestly that took a little pressure off but we went into this planning on racing our race and doing what we do well – ride steady and strong, all day and all night long.
Now that the appropriate introductions and the setting has been laid out, here’s how it went down. Q has always been a good all-rounder so he has always been the runner who runs 800m (pic) in carbon sole bike shoes to the bikes and then rides the first lap. He has always put us in top 6 on the first lap and this year he put us in 3rd by the time I took the baton for our second lap. With so much off-season behind us coupled with the excitement for a new season, we have to keep our cool and ride the technical course clean or else you hurt instantly when you slam into any one of the 5+ types of cactus that are everywhere out there. It’s the most inhospitable vegetation you can imagine – everything grabs and pokes at you – even the trees and probably the hundreds of mice that get road-killed every year.
I was riding strong on my first lap until my rear tire went soft – there goes my shot at fastest lap… A quick blast of CO2 and I was back on course headed for the long climb that finishes the 16 mile lap. On that climb I paid back the debt to my legs back from when I pushed them hard in the wind…and suffered a little more than expected. This is bike racing again – welcome to the suffering!
Lap Time – 58:44 (over a minute off “fastest lap of the race” pace.)
+: An off-season of preparation and anticipation released!
Surprisingly we’re battling these young guys from Waste Management out of Phoenix and they are throwing down some great times (See Lost Boys on the 4 man results). We didn’t know any of them and their names weren’t recognizable in our limited biking network. Someone said they were all young, under 23, roadies which I never actually confirmed. I did talk with Steve Cullinan – who was super fast through his first 3 laps, he only confirmed that he was a young roadie from Colorado. So it was quickly turning into them (young and probably still in school) vs. us (old school).
Through the first 6 laps they were in the lead, never more than a minute or two up. We all suspected that dynamite burns hot and then blows up…and old-growth hardwood burns slow and strong throughout the night. We’ve been in way worse spots than this and we’re experienced Pro’s with endurance (our average age is 38).
After lap 7 Jens came into camp more fired up than I maybe have ever seen him, he explained how he caught them and put 3 seconds into them. There’s the spark that lit our bonfire. Looking back it seems silly how that pivotal moment is but seeing is believing. Santi went out and crushed lap 8 and put a minute into them…the balance had shifted and was leaning in our favor. Q went out and put another 30 seconds into them with a strong lap. I was up next for my first night lap and so was their fastest rider Steve C. Over the last 3 years of racing this course lap 10 usually took 1hr 8mins to 1:11 for the top racers. Determined to better that I rode my lights out and was pacing a sub 1:04 time at all my course checkpoints. Then the legs suffered on the big climb and I was grinding – just trying to keep the pedals turning over. It was only lap 3 and I felt horrible. Competition is a great thing because it brought Steve C. from the Lost Boys up and right past me on the climb – he was riding out of his mind and it helped me dig a little deeper in the suitcase of courage to finish this lap out. He threw down a 1:03…that’s uber-fast and where he won my respect…wow. After descending through the visual tracers that you get when you’re cracking I went to camp to eat and get back in it.
Digging through the memory banks I reflected on 2007 when John Stevens and I took down the Duo win; and how much more of a challenge racing every other hour was than racing every 4th hour on a four man team is. After reminding myself of the saying ”HTF Up!” I was back in that frame of mind to get it done. It’s never easy – and in all reality we aren’t looking for easy and that’s why we race bikes, it’s a suffering sport and if you can tough it out you’ll feel the elation of a good ride.
Santi had that feeling on lap 12 when he caught them and got the lead back for us - he smoked it! 1:05:45 is FAST in the night and he was in a major rhythm – like techno 200 beat/second! Quenzler stepped it up this year also beating his 2009 lap times consistently. On lap 13 the guy he was racing apparently had to take number 2 in the cactus – probably had to sacrifice a glove or two for that mis-step.
Jens doesn’t slow down, as he’s proven in many 12hr solo race wins. I was riding consistently faster than any previous year so we were definitely on track to win this year. My 4th lap was great and I had recovered from my earlier cracking and threw down a 1:05:01 and put a minute into Steve C. Finishing that lap at 2:56am with an 11 minute lead over the closest challengers, it was time to preserve and protect this team lead. No stupid mistakes or mis-steps; make sure you’ve taken your bathroom turn before your laps, no flats or crashes and we’ll get this done.
The rest was a little more along the lines of the script we anticipated – we kept closing out clean lap after clean lap; eating, resting, recovering; and doing it again and again. After lap 18 Q and I had monster breakfast burritos and coffee – finally! I was so pleasantly stuffed for around 10 minutes until my hypermode metabolism made light work of the 1000 calorie stomach-crete. Jens and I closed out the final laps strong and brought the victory safe to our camp.
FINALLY!
The happy hour(s) that followed were the best I’ve ever had at that race: coffee, beers, chips, lunch, laughs, friends, the coldest shower ever, campsite tear-down, and the podium ceremony (pic) where we took the top step. There is so much to try to recall but in reality it’s just one of the best days in the life of a mountain biker and should be experienced by everyone who rides at least once.
Thanks to all our friends and families for helping us, supporting us, and ultimately being there for us as we ride along.
Thanks for reading – see you there next year.
Damian