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Big Win at 24 Hours of Fury
11/08/08 by
Butch Nelson
So what next??? Before I had
too much time to ponder the question, the
phone rang and it was
Dave. “Want
to do a 24 hour mountain bike race with me?”
he asked. “We could do it as a duo or we
could see if
Vickie and
Mike are interested in doing it as a
Co-ed foursome.
Windy is planning to do it as a solo.”
After a quick smirk and short pause, I
yelled… “Hey
Vic… wanna do a 24 hour race with
Dave and
I?” No answer. So I walked from room to
room until I could see a pretty common site
at our house: Our two dogs lying with their
noses up to the door of the bathroom in the
master bath, the light from under the door
lighting their paws. |
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“Vic,
are you in there?” I asked, as if I
didn’t already know the answer. “Dave’s
on the phone, we want to know if you
and Mike
would like to do a 24 hour race with
us in 2 weeks.” At that moment, I
could hear some jostling, then the
flush and door flinging open.
“Sure, let me call
Mike!”
On November 8th
and 9th,
4 Peaks Racing, Bicycle Ranch
and McDowell Mountain Regional Park
brought to the Valley of the Sun,
the premier endurance mountain bike
event of the year: The 12
& 24 Hours of Fury! This event
consisted of loops around the
perimeter of the Competitive Track
at McDowell Mountain Regional Park,
one of Arizona’s most popular
endurance courses. The rules were
simple - the most loops in 12 or 24
hours wins.
We had decided to do
the 24 hour race as a foursome, but
there were a few minor catches. The
race would begin at noon on Saturday
and end at noon on Sunday.
Dave
would have to leave at 5:00am on
Sunday to get to a race to cheer on
athletes he coaches, and
Mike
could not get to the race until
about 4:00pm on Saturday, because
one of his daughters had a soccer
game and the other had a cross
country meet. |
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Our strategy would be
for Dave
to ride every 3rd lap
until he had to leave on Sunday
morning. Our goal was to hit 24
laps, which meant 1 lap per hour.
We would be doing the race as a kind
of relay, each of us taking turns.
When one of us came in, someone
would go out. Pretty simple.
Vickie
put together an excel spreadsheet,
with approximate times so that we
would have an idea as to what time
we were riding, as well as the order
in which we were riding in. Dave
riding every 3rd lap,
made the schedule dynamic, and each
of us would be following someone new
each time we went out. As a team,
we are all HUGE fans of pre-race
preparation! |
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Windy,
on the other hand, would be riding
as many laps as she could in the 24
hour time. Each of us would provide
her support, as she needed it and of
course cheer her on! |
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Dave set the
early tone,
recording a first
lap time of
42:57:00. It was
the 3rd
fastest time of the
race, only 46
seconds off the
first place rider.
We found out later
that
Dave’s saddle
pack that holds his
tube, tire levers,
inflation… had come
open right after the
start of the race
and everything had
spilled out of it.
He had to stop and
put everything back
in and, well, what
do you say other
than it’s
SUPER DAVE !
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Windy was able
to get off to a
great start, as
well. She recorded
the fastest female
lap at 51:21:00.
Prior to the race, I
had emailed back and
forth with
Windy a few
times to find out,
what her goals for
the race were, did
she have a plan, and
how could we support
her. Her goal was
to do enough laps to
justify eating lots
of ice cream after
the race, her plan
was to do as many
laps as she could,
as long as she met
her goal and would
be eating ice cream,
and we could support
her by just being
nice. |
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I was
the second rider
after
Dave and I have
to tell you… it was
really cool to be
racing the second
lap. As all of the
team’s 2nd
lap riders were
eagerly anticipating
their rider coming
in, so they could go
out… everyone was
buzzing. There was
a lot of talk from a
lot of teams. I
stayed pretty
quiet. Honestly, I
really did not know
what to expect
standing among some
of the top teams and
riders from the
west. I knew
Dave would do
his best, but I
can’t begin to
describe the feeling
of seeing him coming
in as the third
rider. As I moved
into position to get
the timing chip and
begin my lap,
something inside me
let me know that we
were going to be
putting together
something special. |
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Vickie and
Mike put
together amazing
first laps, as well,
and Mike was able to
get to the race in
time to go out and
race his first lap.
But how well were we
doing to this
point. We really
had no idea. With
the number of teams
on the course, and
the number of
riders, we would
have to wait for the
race director to
post results. As we
waited, anticipation
grew. We were 4
hours into the 24
hour race, and
finally saw the 1st
posting of results.
We were about 15
minutes ahead of
Team Tribe and in
first place! Both
teams had each of
their riders’
complete 1 lap, and
it was now our race
to lose. |
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While we were at
camp, waiting for our next lap, we
all held to a steadfast regimen.
Change into dry cloths, EAT,
re-hydrate, check the bike, and
rest. During the 24 hours, I had 3
packages of Back Packer freeze dried
pasta, which are actually very good,
2 slices of cheese pizza, 2 bagels,
and lots of potato chips. I had one
bottle of CarbBoom’s electrolyte
replacement drink after each lap,
followed by one bottle of water. I
have to say, other than being really
cold during the night and early
morning laps, and having only had
about 1.5 hours of total sleep, I
felt pretty good throughout the
race.
Through the night, we
continued to build our lead over
Team Tribe and the others.
There was only really one point
during the race, where we almost
made a mistake, and I will take full
credit for it. At roughly,
4:00am, as I was enjoying almost a
full 45 minutes of restful
slumber...Bang, bang Bang,
there was a pounding on the Xterra.
“Butch,
you have to wake up,
Mike
will be in off his lap in about 30
minutes, “
Dave
exclaimed. I responded with a wave
and fell right back to sleep. The
second pounding on the Xterra, was
notably louder, and the exclamation,
border line perturbed, so this time
I got up.
In the end, it was an
amazing race! As a team, we did 23
laps.
Dave did 7, I did 6, and
Mike
and
Vickie each did 5. Had I
finished my last lap 7 minutes
sooner,
Mike would have had the
opportunity to go out for his sixth
lap, but I was spent and really
would have had to pull an amazing
lap time. Turns out, 23 laps was
enough to win. Team Tribe cam in 2nd
with 22 laps.
Windy
was truly amazing throughout her
race in the women’s solo division.
She completed 15 laps, six more than
the gal in 2nd place,
thereby winning the women’s solo
division. Additionally,
Vickie
won one of the top raffle prizes, a
Vassago 29er frame. It was a
great day for BFC Racing and for me,
a great time competing with my
team. Thanks to
4 Peaks Racing for putting on a
great event! |
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As always none of this would
be possible (or at the very best would be a
lot more difficult) without our excellent
sponsors:
Big Fish Creative,
Maxxis,
Rudy Project,
Ritchey,
White Brothers,
Spinergy,
Dermatone,
Defeet,
Carb Boom,
Sierra Adventure Sports and
Racelab. |
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